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GRAND  ARMY  OF  THE 
.„  REPUBLIC  AND  THE 
A  SONS  OF  VETERANS 

J  AND  TO  MY  COM-l! 

*  R ADES  IN  THE  FIELD 
^1861  •  1866 


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Brie.-Cttd.,  U.V.A.,  U.S.A. 


THE 


Grand  Army  Button 


A   SOUVENIR 


Dedicated  to  "My  Comrades,"  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic 
and  the  Sons  of  Veterans,  of  the  United  States 


BY 

NELSON    MONROE 


REMINISCENCES    OF    THE    DAYS    OF    DARK    SECESSION 

1861    AND    1865 


"  And  we  recognize  this  Button  wheresoever  it  may  ba, 
as  a  badge  of  glory  won." 


BOSTON 
Rockwell    and    Churchill    Press 

1893 


CONTENTS. 


Preface    5 

The   Grand   Army   Button      .         .         .         .         .         .         .  .     6 

Introduction 7 

Abraham    Lincoln     .         .         . 13 

Ulysses   Simpson   Grant 18 

William   Tecumseh   Sherman 21 

Philip   Henry   Sheridan 25 

Lee's    Surrender .28 

Review  of   the  War       ........  35 

Libby   Prison 61 

"The   Dead   Line"   at   Libby   Prison 65 


CoPYBIGHT,    1893,   BY   NELSOH    MONBOE. 


"7 


PREFACE. 


""PHIS  little  book,  which  is  presented  to  the  public,  is  designed  to 
keep  the  hearts  of  the  people  warm  and  grateful  toward  the  noble 
defenders  of  the  Union  and  freedom,  who  in  so  many  weary  and  bloody 
struggles  have  upheld  the  nation's  flag,  the  nation's  honor,  and  the 
nation's  life ;  of  the  life  of  our  noble  men  whose  trials  and  hardships  in 
prisons  and  prison  pens,  and  triumphs  of  the  volunteer  on  many  bloody 
fields  of  battle,  whose  immortal  valor  and  patience  have  done  the  work 
and  paid  the  price  of  liberty  and  peace. 
Therefore, 


"  For  what  he  was,  and  what  he  dared,  remember  him  to-day; 


THE    GRAND    ARMY    BUTTON. 


I    HAVE  seen  a  little  button,  of  a  copper-colored  hue, 
It  was  worn  upon  the  lapel  of  the  boys  who  wore  the  blue ; 
It  is  made  of  cannon  captured  by  the  loyal,  brave,  and  true, 
As  they  were  marching  on. 

Care  for  the  soldier,  who  once  cared  for  you, 
Vet'ran  and  hero,  the  grand  boy  in  blue ; 
Where  would  you  now  be,  had  not  his  brave  life 
Stood  between  you  and  the  war's  deadly  strife  ? 
History's  records  forever  will  tell 
Proudly  the  deeds  of  the  heroes  who  fell, 
Forcing  rebellion  and  treason  to  cease, 
Dying  for  liberty,  union,  and  peace. 

Humble  in  life  though  he  may  be  to-day, 
Little  of  wealth  in  his  coffers  may  lay, 
Riches  are  his,  of  more  value  than  gold : 
Valor  displayed,  passing  all  deeds  of  old. 
You  are  his  debtors  for  his  gifts  to  you, 
Show  yourselves  grateful,  to  justice  be  true. 
Your  safety  he  won,  he  won  you  your  peace, 
See  that  your  blessings  to  him  never  cease. 

Who  are  the  worthiest  the  nation's  true  love  ? 
Who  should  be  shielded  till  mustered  above  ? 
Tis  but  his  due  who  imperilled  his  life; 
Keep  him  from  want,  comfort  children  and  wife. 
Sacrifice  grand  for  your  safety  he  gave; 
Bless  him  who  suffered  our  country  to  save. 

In  the  days  of  dark  secession,  sixty-one  to  sixty-five, 
Not  a  star  from  off  our  banner  could  the  haughty  rebels  rive. 
Was  the  service  in  the  army  or  upon  the  rolling  sea, 
It  was  the  self-same  struggle  that  has  made  the  nation  free; 
And  we  recognize  this  button,  wheresoever  it  may  be, 
As  a  badge  of  glory  won. 


INTRODUCTION. 


IN  the  early  part  of  1861,  the  true  citizen  heard  that  traitors  at  Wash- 
ington had  formed  a  conspiracy  to  overthrow  the  government,  and, 
soon  after,  that  the  stars  and  stripes  had  been  fired  upon,  and  had 
been  hauled  down  at  the  bidding  of  an  armed  enemy  in  South  Carolina  ; 
that  the  capital  of  the  nation  was  threatened  ;  and  that  our  new  president 
had  called  for  help.  How  quickly  the  citizen  answered  the  call !  Almost 
like  magic  he  sprang  forth  a  soldier. 

His  farm,  his  bench,  his  desk,  his  counter,  were  left  behind,  and  you 
find  him  marching,  through  the  then  gloomy,  flagless,  defiant  streets  of 
Baltimore,  fully  equipped  for  service,  with  uniform  gray,  blue,  red,  or 
green,  it  then  mattered  not ;  with  knapsack,  cartridge-box,  musket,  and 
bayonet,  his  outfit  was  all  that  was  required. 

He  was  a  little  awkward,  his  accoutrements  much  awry,  his  will  unsub- 
dued. 

He  did  not  keep  step  to  music,  nor  always  lock  step  with  his  compan- 
ions. He  had  scarcely  ever  fired  a  musket,  but  he  had  become  a  soldier, 
put  on  a  soldier's  garb,  set  his  face  toward  the  enemy,  and,  God  willing, 
he  purposed  never  to  turn  back  till  the  soldier's  work  was  done.  You 
meet  him  at  Washington  —  on  Meridian  Hill,  perhaps;  discipline  and 
drill  seize  upoji  him,  restrain  his  liberty,  and  mould  his  body.  Colonels, 
captains,  lieutenants,  and  sergeants,  his  former  equals,  order  him  about, 
and  he  must  obey  them.  O  what  days,  and  O  what  nights!  Where  are 
home  and  affection?  Where  are  the  soft  bed  and  the  loaded  table? 
Change  of  climate,  change  of  food,  want  of  rest,  want  of  all  kinds  of  old 
things,  and  an  influx  of  all  sorts  of  new  things  make  him  sick — yes, 
really  sick  in  body  and  soul.  But  in  spite  of  a  few  doses  of  quinine  and 
a  wholesome  hospital  bed  and  diet  (as  the  soldier  of  '6i  remembers  them), 
his  vigorous  constitution  and  indomitable  heart  prevail,  so  that  he  is  soon 
able  to  cross  the  Long  Bridge  and  invade  the  sacred  red  clay  of  Virginia 
with  his  companions  in  arms. 


The  Grand  army  button. 


Yet,  perhaps,  should  you  now  observe  him  closely  you  will  perceive  his 
enthusiasm  increasing  faster  even  than  his  strength. 

He  is  on  the  enemy's  side  of  the  river.  Now  for  strict  guard  duty  !  Now 
for  the  lonely  pjcket  amid  the  thickets  where  men  are  killed  by  ambushed 
foes!  How  the  eye  and  the  ear  and  —  may  I  say  it?  —  the  heart  are 
quickened  in  these  new  and  trying  vigils  !  Before  long,  however,  the 
soldier  is  inured  to  these  things. 

He  becomes  familiar  with  every  stump,  tree,  and  pathway  of  approach, 
and  his  trusty  gun  and  stouter  heart  defy  any  secret  foe. 

Presently  you  find  him  on  the  road  to  battle.  The  hot  weather  of  July, 
the  usual  load,  the  superadded  twenty  extra  rounds  of  cartridges  and  three 
days'  rations  strung  to  his  neck,  and  the  long,  weary  march,  quite  exhaust 
his  strength  during  the  first  day.  He  aches  to  leave  the  ranks  and  rest ; 
but  no,  no!  He  did  not  leave  home  for  the  ignominious  name  of  "  strag- 
gler" and  "  skulker."     Cost  what  it  may,  he  toils  on. 

The  Acotink,  the  Cub  Run,  the  never-to-be-forgotten  Bull  Run,  are 
passed.  Here,  of  a  sudden,  strange  and  terrible  sounds  strike  upon  his 
ear  and  bear  down  upon  his  heart :  the  booming  of  shotted  cannon ;  the 
screeching  of  bursted  shell  through  the  heated  air,  and  the  zip,  zip,  zip  of 
smaller  balls.  Everything  produces  a  singular  effect  upon  him.  Again, 
all  at  once,  he  is  thrown  quite  unprepared  upon  a  new  and  trying  experi- 
ence ;  for  now  he  meets  the  groaning  ambulance  and  the  bloody  stretcher. 

He  meets  limping,  armless,  legless,  disfigured,  wounded  men.  To  the 
right  of  him  and  to  the  left  of  him  are  the  lifeless  forms  of  the  slain. 
Suddenly  a  large  iron  missile  of  death  strikes  close  beside  him  and  ex- 
plodes, sending  out  twenty  or  more  jagged  fragments,  which  remorselessly 
maim  or  kill  five  or  six  of  his  mates  before  they  have  had  the.  opportunity 
to  strike  one  blow  for  their  country.  His  face  is  now  very  pale  ;  and  will 
not  the  American  soldier  flinch  and  turn  back?  There  is  a  stone  wall,  there 
is  a  building,  there  is  a  stack  of  hay.  It  is  so  easy  to  hide  !*  But  no!  He 
will  not  be  a  coward.  "  O  God,  support  and  strengthen  me !  "  'Tis  all  his 
prayer.  Soon  he  is  at  work.  Yonder  is  the  foe.  "  Load  and  fire  !  "  "  Load 
and  fire!"  But  the  cry  comes,  "Our  flank  is  turned!"  "Our  men  re- 
treat!" With  tears  pouring  down  his  cheek,  he  slowly  yields  and  joins 
the  retiring  throng.  Without  any  more  nerve  and  little  strength,  he 
struggles  back  from  a  lost  field.  Now  he  drinks  the  dregs  of  suffering;. 
Without  blanket  for  the  night,  without  food,  without  hope,  it  is  no  won- 
der that  a  panic  seizes  him,  and  he  runs  demoralized  away.  This  disrep- 
utable course,  however,  is  only  temporary. 

The  soldier  before  long  forgets  his  defeat  and  his  sufferings,  brightens 


INTRODUCTION. 


up  his  armor,  and  resumes  his  place  on  the  defensive  line.  He  submits 
for  weary  days  to  discipline,  drill,  and  hard  fare  ;  he  wades  through  the 
snows  of  winter  and  the  deep  mud  of  a  Virginia  spring.  He  sleeps  upon 
the  ground,  upon  the  deck  of  a  transport  steamer,  and  upon  the  floor  of  a 
platform  car. 

He  helps  load  and  unload  stores  ;  he  makes  facines  and  gabions  ;  he 
corduroys  quicksands  and  bridges,  creeks  and  bogs.  Night  and  day  he 
digs  or  watches  in  the  trenches.  What  a  world  of  new  experience  !  What 
peculiar  labor  and  suffering  he  passes  through  the  soldier  alone  can  tell 
you.  He  now  marches  hurriedly  to  his  second  battle  ;  soon  after  he  is  in 
a  series  of  them.  Fight  and  fall  back  ;  fight  and  fall  back  !  O  those  days 
of  hopelessness,  sorrow,  toil,  and  emaciation!  How  vividly  the  living 
soldier  remembers  them  —  those  days  when  he  cried  from  the  bottom  of 
his  heart,  "  O  God.  how  long  !  how  long  I  " 

Would  you  have  patience  to  follow  him  through  the  commingling  dis- 
asters, from  the  battle  of  Cedar  Mountain  to  the  same  old  bull  Run, 
\ou  would  emerge  with  him  from  the  chaos  and  behold  his  glistening 
bayonet  again  on  the  successful  field  of  Antietam,  where  a  glimmer  of 
hope  lighted  up  his  heart.  Would  you  go  with  him  to  the  bloody  fields 
of  Fredericksburg,  stanch  his  wounds  in  the  wilderness  of  Chancellors- 
ville,  and  journey  on  with  him  afterward  to  this  hallowed  ground  of 
Gettysburg,  and  could  you  be  enabled  to  read  and  record  his  toils,  his 
sufferings,  and  all  his  thoughts,  you  might  be  able  to  appreciate  the  true 
American  soldier.  You  might  then  recite  the  first  chapter  of  the  cost  of 
the  preservation  of  the  American  Union.  In  September,  1S63,  after  the 
battle  of  Gettysburg,  the  government  sends  two  army  corps  to  reinforce 
our  brethren  in  the  West.  The  soldier  is  already  far  from  home  and 
friends,  but  he  is  suddenly  apprised  that  he  must  go  two  thousands  miles 
farther.  He  cannot  visit  his  family  to  take  leave  of  them.  He  has 
scarcely  the  Opportunity  of  writing  a  line  of  farewell.  The  chances  of 
death  are  multitudinous  as  they  appear  before  his  imagination,  and  the 
hope  of  returning  is  very  slender.  Yet  again  the  soldier  does  not  falter. 
With  forty  others  he  crowds  into  the  close  unventilated  freight-car,  and 
speeds  away,  night  and  day,  without  even  the  luxury  of  a  decent  seat. 
With  all  the  peculiar  discomforts  of  this  journey,  the  backings,  and  the 
waitings  at  the  railroad  junctions,  the  transfers  from  car  to  car  and  from 
train  to  train,  being  confined  for  days  without  the  solace  and  strength 
derived  from  his  coffee,  there  is  yet  something  compensative  in  the  exhila- 
rating influence  of  change.  And  there  is  added  to  it,  in  passing  through 
Ohio  and  Indiana,  a  renewed  inspiration,  as  the  people  turn  out  in  masses 


10  The   Grand   army   Button. 


to  welcome  him  and  to  bid  him  godspeed  ;  and  little  girls  throw  wreaths 
of  Mowers  round  his  neck,  kiss  his  bronzed  cheek,  and  strew  his  car  with 
other  offerings  of  love  and  devotion.  Such  impressions  as  were  here- 
received  were  never  effaced.  They  touch  the  rou^h  heart  anew  with  ten- 
derness, and,  being  a  reminder  of  the  old  home  affections,  only  serve  to 
deepen  his  resolution  sooner  or  later,  by  the  blessing  of  God,  to  reach 
the  goal  of  his  ambition  ;  that  is  to  say,  with  his  compatriots  to  secure  to 
his  children,  and  to  other  children,  enduring  peace,  with  liberty  and  an 
undivided  country.  He  passes  on  through  Kentucky,  through  the  battle- 
fields of  Tennessee,  already  historical.  The  names  Nashville,  Stone 
River,  Murfreesboro,  and  Tullahoma  remind  him  of  past  struggles,  and 
portend  future  conflicts.  He  is  deposited  at  Bridgeport,  Ala.,  a  house- 
less, cheerless,  chilly  place  on  the  banks  of  the  Tennessee,  possess- 
ing no  interest  further  than  that  furnished  by  the  railroad  bridge  destroyed 
and  the  yet  remaining  rubbish  and  filth  of  an  enemy's  camp.  Before  many 
days  the  soldier  threads  his  way  up  the  valley  of  the  great  river,  which 
winds  and  twists  amid  the  rugged  mountains,  till  he  finds  himself  beneath 
the  rock-crowned  steeps  of  Lookout.  Flash  after  flash,  volume  after 
volume  of  light-colored  smoke,  and  peal  on  peal  of  cannon,  the  crash- 
ing sound  of  shot  and  the  screaming  of  shell,  are  the  ominous  signs  of 
unfriendly  welcome  sent  forth  to  meet  him  from  this  rocky  height.  Yet 
on  he  marches,  in  spite  of  threatening  danger,  in  spite  of  the  ambush 
along  the  route,  until  he  has  joined  hands  with  his  Western  brother,  who 
had  come  from  Chattanooga  to  meet  and  to  greet  him.  This  is  where  the 
valley  of  Lookout  joins  that  of  the  Tennessee.  At  this  place  the  stories 
of  Eastern  and  Western  hardship,  suffering,  battling,  and  danger  are  re- 
capitulated and  made  to  blend  into  the  common  history  and  the  common 
sacrifice  of  the  American  soldier. 

Were  there  time,  I  would  gladly  take  you,  step  by  step,  with  the  soldier, 
as  he  bridges  and  crosses  the  broad  and  the  rapid  river,  as  he  ascends 
and  storms  the  height  of  Mission  Ridge,  or  as  he  plants  his  victorious  feet, 
waves  his  banner,  and  flashes  his  gun  on  the  top  of  Lookout  Mountain. 
I  would  carry  you  with  him  across  the  death-bearing  streams  of  Chicka- 
mauga.  I  would  have  you  follow  him  in  his  weary,  barefooted,  wintry 
march  to  the  relief  of  Knoxville  and  back  to  Chattanooga.  From  his 
point  of  view  I  would  open  up  the  spring  campaign,  where  the  great  gen- 
eral initiated  his  remarkable  work  of  genius  and  daring,  I  could  point 
you  to  the  soldier  pursuing  his  enemv  into  the  strongholds  of  Dalton, 
behind  the  stern,  impassable  features  of  Rocky  Face.  Resaca,  Adairs- 
ville,  Cassville,    Dallas,    New   Hope    Church,   Pickett's   Hill,    Pine    Top, 


INTRODUCTION.  11 


Lost  Mountain,  Kenesaw,  Culps'  Farm,  Smyrna,  Camp  Ground,  Peach 
Tree  Creek,  Atlanta,  from  so  many  points  of  view,  and  Jonesboro,  arc 
names  of  battle-fields  upon  each  of  which  a  soldier's  memory  dwells.  For 
upward  of  a  hundred  days,  he  scarcely  rested  from  the  conflict.  He  skir- 
mished over  rocks,  hills,  and  mountains ;  through  mud,  streams,  and 
forests.  For  hundreds  of  miles  he  gave  his  aid  to  dig  that  endless  chain 
of  intrench ments  which  compassed  every  one  of  the  enemy's  fortified 
positions.  He  companied  with  those  who  combated  the  obstinate  foe, 
on  the  front  and  on  the  flanks  of  those  mountain  fastnesses  which  the 
enemy  had  deemed  impregnable,  and  he  had  a  right  at  last  to  echo  the 
sentiment  of  his  indefatigable  leader,  "  Atlanta  is  ours,  and  fairly  won  !  " 

Could  you  now  have  patience  to  turn  back  with  him  and  fight  these 
battles  over  again,  behold  his  communications  cut,  his  railroad  destroyed 
for  miles  and  miles;  enter  the  bloody  fight  of  Allatoona;  follow  him 
through  the  forced  marches,  via  Rome,  Ga.,  away  back  to  Resaca,  and 
through  the  obstructed  gaps  of  the  mountains  of  Alabama,  —  you  would 
thank  God  forgiving  him  a  stout  heart  and  an  unflinching  faith  in  a  just 
and  noble  cause.  Weary  and  worn,  he  reposes  at  Atlanta  on  his  return 
but  one  single  night,  when  he  commences  the  memorable  march  toward 
Savannah.  The  soldier  has  become  a  veteran;  he  can  march  all  day 
with  his  musket,  his  knapsack,  his  cartridge-box,  his  haversack  and  can- 
teen, upon  his  person;  his  muscles  have  become  large  and  rigid,  so  that 
what  was  once  extremely  difficult  he  now  accomplishes  with  graceful  ease. 
This  tact  must  be  borne  in  mind  when  studying  the  soldier's  marches 
through  Georgia  and  the  Carolinas.  The  enemy  burned  every  bridge 
across  stream  after  stream  ;  the  rivers  bordered  the  swamps  ;  for  example, 
the  Ocmulgee,  the  Oconee,  and  the  Ogeechee  were  defended  at  every 
crossing.  That  they  were  passed  at  all  by  our  forces  is  due  to  the  cheer- 
ful, fearless,  indomitable  private  soldier.  O  that  you  had  seen  him,  as  I 
have  done,  wading  creeks  a  half  a  mile  in  width,  and  water  waist  dee]), 
under  fire,  pressing  on  through  wide  swamps,  without  one  faltering  step, 
charging  in  line  upon  the  most  formidable  works,  which  were  well 
defended.  You  could  then  appreciate  him  and  what  he  has  accomplished, 
as  I  do.  You  could  then  feel  the  poignant  sorrow  that  I  always  did  feel 
when  I  saw  him  fall  bleeding  to  the  earth. 

I  must  now  leave  the  soldier  to  tell  his  own  tale  among  "the  people  :  of 
his  bold,  bloody  work  at  McAllister  against  the  torpedoes,  abattis,  artil- 
lery, and  musketry;  of  his  privations  at  Savannah;  of  his  straggles 
through  the  swamps,  quicksands,  and  over  the  broad  rivers  of  the  Caro- 
linas ;   of  the  fights,  fires,  explosions,  doubts,  and  triumphs  suggested  bj 


12  The  Grand  ar.wv   button. 


Griswoldville,  Rivers'  and  Binnakers  Bridges,  Orangeburg,  Congaree 
Creek,  Columbia.  Cheraw,  Fayetteville,  Averysboro,  and  Bentonville.  I 
will  leave  him  to  tell  how  his  hopes  brightened  at  the  reunion  at  Golds- 
boro ;  how  his  heart  throbbed  with  gratitude  and  joy  as  the  wires  con- 
firmed the  rumored  news  of  Lee's  defeat,  so  soon  to  be  followed  by  the 
capture  of  the  enemy's  capital  and  his  entire  army.  I  will  leave  him  to 
tell  to  yourselves  and  your  children  how  he  felt  and  acted,  how  proud 
was  his  bearing,  how  elastic  his  step,  as  he  marched  in  review  before  the 
President  of  the  United  States  at  Washington.  I  would  do  the  soldier 
injustice  not  to  say  that  there  was  one  thing  wanting  to  make  his  satisfac- 
tion complete,  and  that  was  the  sight  of  the  tall  form  of  Abraham  Lin- 
coln, and  the  absence  of  that  bitter  recollection,  which  he  could  not 
altogether  exclude  from  his  heart,  that  he  had  died  by  the  hand  of  a  traitor 
assassin. 

I  have  given  you  only  glimpses  of  the  American  soldier  as  I  have  seen 
him.  To  feel  the  full  force  of  what  he  has  clone  and  suffered,  you  should 
have  accompanied  him  for  the  last  four  years ;  you  should  have  stood 
upon  the  battle-fields  during  and  after  the  struggle ;  and  you  should  have 
completed  your  observation  in  the  army  hospitals,  and  upon  the  countless 
grounds  peopled  with  the  dead.  The  maimed  bodies,  the  multitude  of 
graves,  the  historic  fields,  the  monumental  stones,  after  all,  are  only 
meagre  memorials  of  the  soldier's  work.  God  grant  that  what  he  planted, 
nourished,  and  has  now  preserved  by  his  blood  —  I  mean  American  liberty 
—  may  be  a  plant  dear  to  us  as  the  apple  of  the  eye,  and  that  its  growth 
may  not  be  hindered  till  its  roots  are  firmly  set  in  every  State  of  this 
Union,  and  till  the  full  fruition  of  its  blessed  fruit  is  realized  by  men  of 
every  name,  color,  and  description  in  this  broad  land. 


ABRAHAM     LINCOLN.  13 


ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN,  sixteenth  President  of  the  United  States,  and  at 
the  time  of  his  death  filling  that  office  for  the  second  term,  was  born 
in  Hardin  County,  Kentucky,  Feb.  12,  1809.  His  ancestors  were 
Quakers.  In  1816  his  father  removed  to  Spencer  County,  Indiana,  and 
Abraham  was  thus  early  put  to  work  with  an  axe  to  clear  away  the  forest. 
In  the  next  ten  years  he  received  about  one  year's  schooling,  in  such 
schools  as  were  taught  in  that  new  country. 

At  the  age  of  nineteen  years  he  made  a  trip  to  New  Orleans  as  a  hired 
hand  on  a  flat-boat.  In  March,  1830,  he  removed  with  his  father  to 
Decatur,  111.,  and  aided  in  building  a  cabin,  settling  the  family  in  their  new 
home,  and  providing  for  them  the  ensuing  winter.  In  1831  he  again 
made  a  trip  to  New  Orleans,  and  on  his  return  became  a  clerk  in  a  store 
at  Sangamon,  111. 

In  1832  he  volunteered  in  the  Black  Hawk  War,  and  was  made  captain 
of  a  company,  but  saw  no  fighting.  On  his  return  from  the  campaign  he 
was  a  candidate  for  the  Legislature,  but  was  unsuccessful.  A  store  which 
he  purchased  did  not  prosper ;  and  after  a  short  term  of  service  as  post- 
master at  New  Salem,  111.,  studying  at  every  leisure  moment,  he  became 
a  surveyor,  and  won  a  good  reputation  for  the  accuracy  of  his  surveys. 

In  1834  he  was  elected  to  the  Legislature,  and  reelected  in  1836  and 
1838.  Having  devoted  all  his  leisure  time  to  the  study  of  law,  he  was  ad- 
mitted to  the  bar  in  1836,  and  in  1837  removed  to  Springfield,  111.,  and 
opened  an  office  in  partnership  with  Hon.  John  F.  Stuart.  He  soon  rose 
to  eminence  in  his  profession,  but  did  not  withdraw  from  politics.  In 
1844  he  was  nominated  as  a  Whig  presidential  elector,  and  canvassed  the 
State  for  Mr.  Clay. 

In  1846  he  was  elected  to  Congress  from  the  central  district  of  Illinois, 
and  in  Congress  maintained  the  reputation  of  an  honest  and  able  represent- 
ative, acting  generally  with  the  more  advanced  wing  of  the  Whig  party. 
In  1849  ne  was  a  candidate  for  United  States  Senator,  but  the  Legislature 


1 1  Thl   Grand   army   Button. 


was  Democratic,  and  elected  General  Shields.  In  1854  the  passage  of  the 
Nebraska  Bill  and  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise  called  him  again 
into  the  field,  and  by  his  disinterested  labors  Judge  Trumbull  was  elected 
to  the  United  States  Senate.  In  1856,  at  the  Republican  National  Conven- 
tion, lie  was  urged  for  the  vice-presidency,  and  received  one  hundred  and  ten 
votes.  In  1858  he  was  nominated  for  United  States  Senator  by  the  Repub- 
licans, and  in  company  with  Judge  Douglas,  the  Democratic  candidate,  can- 
vassed the  State,  discussing  with  his  antagonist  the  great  principles  which 
distinguished  the  two  parties.  Lincoln  had  a  majority  of  the  popular  vote,  but 
Douglas  was  elected  by  the  Legislature  by  eight  majority.  On  the  18th  of 
May,  i860,  Mr.  Lincoln  was  nominated  by  the  Republican  National  Con- 
vention at  Chicago  for  the  presidency,  and  on  the  6th  of  February  following 
was  elected,  receiving  one  hundred  and  eighty  out  of  three  hundred  and 
three  electoral  votes.  It  was  the  policy  of  those  who  were  conspiring 
against  the  Union  to  divide  the  opponents  of  Mr.  Lincoln  as  far  as  pos- 
sible, in  order  that  he  might  succeed  by  the  votes  of  Northern  States  alone, 
and  thus  afford  a  pretext  for  secession  ;  and  therefore  three  other  distinct 
presidential  tickets  were  run,  headed  respectively  by  Messrs.  Breckenridge, 
Douglas,  and  Bell. 

As  soon  as  his  election  was  known,  measures  were  taken  by  political 
leaders  in  several  of  the  Southern  States  to  drag  their  States  into 
secession;  and  when  Mr.  Lincoln  left  Springfield,  111.,  on  the  nth  of 
February,  to  go  to  Washington  for  his  inauguration,  six  States  had  al- 
ready seceded,  and  others  were  preparing  to  follow.  A  Southern  con- 
federacy had  been  formed,  with  Davis  and  Stephens  for  president  and 
vice-president.  Notwithstanding  three  or  more  attempts  to  assassinate 
him,  he  reached  Washington  in  safety,  and,  though  still  threatened,  was 
inaugurated  March  4,  1 861 .  The  condition  of  the  government,  through 
the  imbecility,  fraud,  and  treason  of  the  preceding  administration  and 
cabinet,  was  deplorable:  its  credit  nearly  ruined;  its  army  deprived  of 
arms  and  paroled  ;  its  navy  sent  to  distant  seas  ;  its  arms  removed  to  the 
arsenals  of  the  States  in  insurrection,  or  sold  and  broken  up:  its  forts, 
vessels,  custom-houses,  and  mints  seized  by  the  conspirators. 

Mr.  Lincoln  set  himself  to  remedy  this,  when,  on  the  14th  of  April,  1861, 
Fort  Sumter  was  captured  and  the  war  commenced.  He  then  called  for 
seventy-five  thousand  men  for  three  months,  proclaimed  a  blockade  of  the 
Southern  ports,  and  summoned  an  extra  session  of  Congress  for  July  4, 
1 861.  Large  armies  were  soon  required,  and  in  the  executive  responsi- 
bilities of  his  position  in  a  time  of  war.  with  a  great  army  to  be  maintained, 
disciplined,  and  kept  at  work,  finances  to  be  managed,  the  disloyal  gov- 


>-u-C<^r-t>uv^ 


16  The   Grand   army   Bur  ion. 


ernment  officers,  civil  and  military,  to  be  weeded  out,  the  schemes  of 
secessionists  to  be  thwarted,  and  later  in  the  year  the  difficult  case  of  the 
seizure  of  Mason  and  Slidell  to  be  adjusted,  he  had  his  full  share  of  the 
burdens  of  his  official  position.  During  [862,  these  were  rather  increased 
than  diminished. 

Compelled  by  his  convictions  of  duty  to  assume  in  fact  his  titular  posi- 
tion of  commander-in-chief  of  the  army  and  navy,  he  ordered  an  advance  in 
February,  1862,  which  was  made  in  March.  The  indecisive  or  disastrous 
battles  of  the  Peninsula  and  Pope's  campaign  caused  him  great  anxiety, 
and  the  conviction  having  been  forced  upon  him,  by  the  course  of  events, 
that  the  slaves  in  the  rebel  States  must  be  emancipated  as  a  military 
necessity,  he  issued,  on  the  22d  of  September,  soon  after  the  more  favor- 
able battles  of  South  Mountain  and  Antietam,  his  preliminary  proclama- 
tion, announcing  his  intention  of  declaring  free  all  slaves  in  rebel  States, 
on  the  1st  of  January,  1S63.  Several  successes  in  the  West  had  cheered 
him,  and  in  1863,  with  some  disasters,  there  were  many  and  important 
victories  East  and  West.  Mr.  Lincoln  had  been  very  desirous  that  the 
border  States  should  adopt  some  plan  of  more  or  less  gradual  emancipa- 
tion, and,  during  the  year,  West  Virginia,  Maryland,  and  Missouri  did  so. 

In  1864.  having  called  General  Grant  to  the  lieutenant-generalship,  Mr. 
Lincoln  divided  with  him  a  part  of  his  burdens,  which  had  become  too 
oppressive  to  be  borne.  A  great  outcry  had  been  made  against  him  for 
the  arrest  of  Vallandigham  and  other  promoters  of  rebellion  ;  but  in  two 
very  able  letters,  addressed  to  the  New  York  and  Ohio  committees,  he  fullv 
justified  his  course. 

The  victories  of  Sherman,  Thomas,  Farragut,  Terry,  and  Sheridan,  and 
the  persistency  and  resolution  of  Grant,  had  at  length,  in  the  spring  of 
1865,  prepared  the  way  for  the  downfall  of  the  rebellion  :  and  after  a  brief 
but  desperate  struggle,  Petersburg  and  Richmond  fell,  and  Lee  sur- 
rendered his  army.  In  the  progress  of  these  events,  Mr.  Lincoln,  whose 
anxiety  had  been  most  insupportable,  was  at  the  front,  and  the  day  after 
the  occupation  of  Richmond  by  the  Union  troops  he  entered  that  city, 
not  with  the  pomp  of  a  conqueror,  but  quietly  and  without  display,  and 
after  spending  one  clay  there  returned  to  City  Point,  and  thence  to  Wash- 
ington. The  war  was  to  all  intents  and  purposes  closed,  and,  with  his  mind 
intent  on  the  great  problem  of  pacification,  his  brow  cleared,  and  he  ap- 
peared in  better  spirits  than  usual.  This  was  the  time  seized  upon  by  the 
conspirators  for  his  assassination,  and  on  the  15th  of  April,  just  four  years 
from  the  date  of  his  proclamation  calling  the  people  to  arms,  he  died  by 
the  hand  of  a  wretched  murderer. 


ABRAHAM     LINCOLN.  17 


He  was  a  man  of  thorough  integrity  and  uprightness,  conscientious, 
candid,  amiable,  and  forgiving ;  slow  in  arriving  at  conclusions, 
but  firm  in  maintaining  them  ;  of  sound  judgment  and  good  execu- 
tive abilities,  and  possessing  a  rare  power  of  natural  logic  which  was 
the  more  convincing  from  its  singularity.  Though  sprung  from  the 
common  people  and  never  ashamed  of  the  class,  he  possessed  a  native 
politeness  and  grace  of  manner  which  caused  Edward  Everett,  himself 
one  of  the  most  refined  and  elegant  gentlemen  of  our  time,  to  say  that  in 
his  personal  bearing  and  manner  Mr.  Lincoln  was  the  peer  of  any  gentle- 
man of  America  or  Europe. 


Ulysses  Simpson   grant.  19 


ULYSSES    SIMPSON    GRANT, 


ULYSSES  SIMPSON  GRANT,  Lieutenant-General,  United  States 
Army,  was  born  at  Point  Pleasant,  Clermont  County,  O.,  April 
27,  1822.  After  a  fair  preliminary  education,  he  entered  West 
Point  in  1839,  and  graduated  in  1843,  ranking  twenty-first  in  a  class  of 
thirty.  Brevetted  second  lieutenant,  Fourth  Infantry,  he  served  first  at 
Jefferson  Barracks,  near  St.  Louis  ;  next  on  the  Red  River  in  Louisiana. 
In  1845  made  full  second  lieutenant  in  his  regiment,  and  in  1846,  under 
General  Taylor,  moved  forward  to  the  border,  took  part  in  the  battles  of 
Palo  Alto,  Reseca  de  la  Palma,  in  the  storming  of  Monterey  and  the 
capture  of  Vera  Cruz ;  appointed  quartermaster  of  his  regiment ;  took 
part  in  the  assault  of  Molinodel  Rey  and  the  storming  of  Chapultepec, 
and  was  made  first  lieutenant  on  the  spot  and  subsequently  brevetted 
captain.  In  August,  1848,  married  Miss  Dent  of  St.  Louis,  and  ordered 
successively  to  Detroit,  Sackett's  Harbor,  and  Fort  Dallas,  Oregon. 
Promoted  to  full  captaincy  in  August,  1853;  resigned  his  commission 
July  31,  1854.  He  engaged  in  various  occupations,  but  with  no  great 
success,  as  farmer,  collector,  auctioneer,  and  leather-dealer.  On  the 
opening  of  the  war  he  raised  a  company  and  marched  with  it  to  Spring- 
field, 111.,  from  Galena,  his  then  residence.  Other  men  of  more  imposing 
appearance  obtained  commissions,  but  Captain  Grant  received  none. 
Soon  after,  however.  Governor  Gates  made  him  adjutant-general,  and  in 
June  commissioned  him  as  colonel  of  the  Twenty-first  Illinois  Volunteers. 
His  regiment  was  employed  in  guarding  the  Hannibal  and  St.  Joseph 
Railroad.  Here  he  was  soon  made  acting  brigadier-general,  and  on  the 
9th  of  August  commissioned  as  brigadier-general  and  ordered  to  southern 
Missouri  to  oppose  Jefferson  Thompson.  He  next  took  command  of  the 
district  of  Cairo,  occupied  Paducah  and  Smithland,  Ky.,  and  sent  an  ex- 
pedition in  pursuit  of  Jefferson  Thompson.  On  November  7  fought  the 
battle  of  Belmont.  Early  in  January  made  a  reconnoissance  in  force  into 
Kentucky  to  learn  the  position  of  the  enemy,  and  in  the  beginning  of 
February  moved  on  Fort  Henry,  Tenn.,  which,  however,  Flag-Officer 
Foote  captured  before  he  reached  it.  He  then  besieged  Fort  Donelson, 
on  the  Cumberland,  and  after  four  days  received  —  Feb.  16,  1862  —  its  un- 


20  The  Grand   army   button. 


conditional  surrender.  Promoted  to  a  major-generalship  Feb.  16,  1862. 
Moving  southward  through  Nashville,  Franklin,  Columbia,  etc.,  hi 
reached  Pittsburg  Landing  and  Savannah,  on  the  Tennessee  River,  the 
latter  part  of  March  ;  fought  the  severe  battle  of  Shiloh  or  Pittsburg 
Landing  April  6  and  7 ;  under  command  of  General  Halleck  took  part 
in  the  siege  of  Corinth.  After  its  evacuation,  put  in  command  of  the 
Department  of  West  Tennessee  ;  broke  up  the  illicit  traffic  at  Memphis  : 
commanded  in  the  battles  of  Luka  and  Corinth  September  and  October, 
1862;  moved  southward  to  attack  Vicksburg  in  rear,  in  December,  1862, 
but  was  recalled  by  the  capture  of  Holly  Springs,  his  depot  of  supplies. 
Returned  northward,  and  bringing  his  army  to  Young's  Point  sought  the 
reduction  of  Vicksburg  by  various  measures.  Finally  marching  his  force 
down  the  west  side  of  the  river,  crossed  at  Bruinsburg;  fought  in  the 
first  seventeen  days  of  May  the  battles  of  Fort  Gibson,  Fourteen  Mile  Run, 
Raymond,  Jackson,  Champion's  Hill,  and  Black  River  Bridge;  besieged 
Vicksburg  for  seven  weeks,  when  it  surrendered  —  by  far  the  richest  prize 
of  the  war  thus  far ;  defeating  and  routing  Johnston  at  Jackson  with 
Sherman's  troops,  he  next  visited  New  Orleans,  where  he  was  seriously 
injured  by  being  thrown  from  his  horse. 

Appointed  in  October,  1863,  to  the  command  of  the  Western  Grand 
Military  Division,  he  hastened  to  Chattanooga,  where  by  the  magnificent 
battles  of  Chattanooga  he  surpassed  his  previous  reputation.  He  also 
raised  the  siege  of  Knoxville.  Appointed  lieutenant-general  in  March, 
1864,  he  reorganized  the  Eastern  armies,  and  in  May,  1864,  commenced 
his  great  campaign,  and  fought  within  the  next  weeks  the  terrible  battles 
of  the  Wilderness,  Spottsylvania,  Court  House,  the  North  Anna,  Cold 
Harbor,  Mechanicsville,  Chickahominy,  and  Petersburg;  later  in  the 
season,  the  disastrous  battle  of  the  Petersburg  Mine,  the  battles  of  Deep 
Bottom  and  Chaffin's  Farm,  several  attempts  to  gain  possession  of  the 
South  Side  Railroad  occasioning  battles  southwest  of  Petersburg,  the 
battles  of  Hatchers  Run,  in  October,  1864,  and  February,  1865.  The  re- 
pulse of  the  attack  on  Fort  Stedman  and  the  final  movement  by  which 
Five  Forks  was  taken,  and  the  strong  works  before  Petersburg  carried, 
Richmond  and  Petersburg  captured,  the  retreating  rebel  army  pursued, 
fought  at  Deatonville,  Farmville,  and  Appomattox  Station,  and  finally 
compelled  to  surrender,  demonstrated  his  ability  and  persistence.  At  the 
same  time  he  had  directed  in  general  the  movements  of  Sherman,  Sheri- 
dan, and  Thomas,  and  in  particular  the  expeditions  for  the  capture  of  Fort 
Fisher  and  the  reduction  of  Wilmington.  He  also  dictated  the  terms  of 
the  subsequent  surrender,  and  the  reorganization  of  the  greatly  reduced 
army. 


William   Tecumseh   Sherman.  21 


WILLIAM    TECUMSEH    SHERMAN. 


WILLIAM  TECUMSEH  SHERMAN,  Major  General,  United  States 
Army,  was  born  in  Lancaster,  O.,  Feb.  8,  1820.  After  a  good 
preliminary  education  he  entered  West  Point  in  1836,  and  gradu- 
ated in  1840,  sixth  in  his  class  ;  appointed  immediately  second  lieutenant 
Third  Artillery,  and  served  successively  in  Florida  (where,  in  1841,  he  was 
promoted  to  be  first  lieutenant),  Fort  Moulton  ( 1 841-6),  in  California 
(1846-50),  where  he  was  made  assistant  adjutant-general,  brevetted 
captain,  and  in  1850  promoted  to  a  captaincy,  and  ordered  to  St.  Louis. 
In  185 1  he  was  stationed  at  New  Orleans.  In  1853  he  resigned  his  com- 
mission, removed  to  San  Francisco,  and  was  for  four  years  manager  of 
Lucas  Turner  &  Co. 's  banking-house.  In  1857  he  was  offered  the  presi- 
dency of  a  State  military  academy  in  Louisiana,  and  accepted,  but  resigned 
in  January,  1861,  because  the  academy  was  used  to  train  rebel  officers,  and 
removed  to  St.  Louis,  and  at  the  opening  of  the  war  offered  his  services 
to  the  government.  He  was  appointed,  May  14,  1861,  colonel  of  the 
Thirteenth  Infantry,  United  States  Army,  and  commanded  the  Third  Brig- 
ade in  the  First  (Tyler's)  Division  at  Bull  Run,  where  neither  he  nor  his 
men  ran,  but  rendered  efficient  service.  He  was  made  brigadier-general  of 
volunteers  Aug.  3,  I861,  reported  at  first  to  General  Anderson,  and  on  Gen- 
eral Anderson's  resigning  (October  8)  was  made  commander  of  the  Depart- 
ment of  the  Ohio.  Here  he  was  greatly  embarrassed  by  the  utter  insufficiency 
of  the  force  allowed  him  to  meet  the  rebels,  who  greatly  outnumbered  his 
forces.  Finding  remonstrances  useless,  he  asked  to  be  relieved,  and  was 
shelved  by  being  put  in  command  of  Benton  Barracks  near  St.  Louis. 
General  Halleck  found  him  here,  and  presently  put  him  in  command  of  the 
Fifth  Division  of  Grant's  Army.  At  Shiloh  General  Grant  testifies  that 
he  saved  the  army  and  the  day.  He  was  in  the  advance  in  the  pursuit  and 
siege  of  Corinth,  and  was  made  major-general  of  volunteers  from  May  1, 
1862.  June  20  he  captured  Holly  Springs,  Miss.  In  June  he  was  put  in 
command  of  the  district  of  Memphis,  and  suppressed  the  contraband  trade 


22  THE    GRAND     ARMY    BUTTON. 


and  the  guerrillas  there.  In  December  he  was  appointed  to  the  command 
of  the  Fifteenth  Army  Corps,  and  sent  to  Chickasaw  Bluffs,  Vicksburg, 
where,  owing  to  Grant's  inability  to  cooperate,  in  consequence  of  the 
capture  of  Holly  Springs  by  the  rebels,  he  was  repulsed  with  considerable 
loss.  He  then  proceeded  with  his  command  and  General  McCIunand, 
who  ranked  him  to  Arkansas  Post,  which  was  captured  early  in  January, 
;.  In  Grant's  subsequent  campaign  against  Vicksburg,  Sherman  was 
his  ablest  lieutenant.  He  saved  the  gunboats  from  destruction  on  the 
Sunflower  River,  made  so  formidable  a  demonstration  against  Haines's 
Bluff,  when  Grant  was  at  Bruinsburg,  as  to  completely  deceive  the  rebels 
and  draw  them  away  from  his  route;  fought  bravely  at  Fourteen  Mile 
Creek  and  Jackson,  destroyed  rebel  property  there,  and  thence  moved 
rapidly  toward  Vicksburg;  captured  the  rebel  batteries  on  Haines,  Wal- 
nut, Snyder,  and  Chickasaw  Bluffs,  and  then  opened  communication  witli 
the  Union  fleet  above  Vicksburg.  He  assaulted  the  city  on  the  19th  and 
2Jtl  of  May.  and  gained  some  ground,  though  he  did  not  enter  the  city. 
Immediately  after  the  surrender  in  July,  he  was  sent  in  pursuit  of  Johnston, 
whom  he  drove  back  through  ami  out  of  Jackson  with  heavy  loss. 

After  a  short  period  of  rest,  he  was  called  to  reinforce  the  Army  of  the 
Cumberland  at  Chattanooga,  and  while  on  his  way  was  put  in  command 
of  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee,  General  Grant,  who  had  formerly  com- 
manded it,  being  promoted  to  the  command  of  the  Military  Division  of 
the  Mississippi.  Arriving  at  Chattanooga,  he  was  at  once  ordered  to 
move  to  the  attack  of  the  rebels  at  the  northern  extremity  of  Missouri 
bridge.  He  crossed  the  Tennessee,  and,  by  his  persistent  demonstrations 
on  Fort  Buckner,  compelled  the  rebels  to  withdraw  their  troops  from 
Fort  Bragg  to  oppose  him,  and  then  that  fort  fell  a  prey  to  the  assault  of  the 
Fourth  Corps.  This  battle  over,  he  was  immediately  sent  by  General  Grant 
to  raise  the  siege  of  Knoxville,  which  he  accomplished  by  an  extraordi- 
nary forced  march.  After  a  brief  period  of  rest,  early  in  February  General 
Sherman  was  at  Vicksburg,  at  the  head  of  twenty  thousand  troops,  march- 
ing into  the  heart  of  Mississippi  and  Alabama.  On  his  return  Grant  was 
lieutenant-general,  and  Sherman  again  succeeded  him  in  the  command  of 
the  Military  Division  of  the  Mississippi.  Gathering  his  troops,  he  moved 
from  Chattanooga  May  7,  1864,  for  Atlanta,  capturing  in  the  campaign 
Dalton,  Resaca,  Kingston,  Rome,  Dallas,  Allatoona  Pass,  Marietta, 
Sandtown,  and  Decatur,  besides  many  places  of  less  note,  and  fighting 
the  severe  battles  of  Rocky-Faced  Ridge,  Resaca,  New  Hope  Church, 
Dallas,  Kenesavv  Mountain,  Little  Kenesaw,  the  three  battles  before  At- 
lanta, and   the  battles  at  Jonesboro.     fie  entered  Atlanta  September  1, 


WILLIAM    TECUMSEH    SHERMAN. 


24  The  Grand  army   Button. 


removed  the  civilians  from  it,  and  gathered  stores  there ;  and  Hood,  the 
rebel  general,  attempting  to  cut  his  communications,  he  followed  him 
northward,  fought  him  at  Allatoona  Pass,  drove  him  westward  to  Gayles- 
ville,  Ala.,  and  intrusted  the  task  of  taking  care  of  him  to  General 
Thomas  while  he  returned  to  Atlanta,  voluntarily  severed  all  communica- 
tion with  Chattanooga,  destroyed  the  public  buildings  of  Atlanta,  and  with 
a  force  of  sixty  thousand  men  commenced  his  march  toward  Savannah 
Sweeping  through  a  broad  tract,  he  arrived  at  Savannah  with  very  slight 
i  — ,  capturing  Fort  McAllister  byassault,  and  compelling  Hardee  to  evac- 
uate the  city.  He  remained  there  a  month,  recruiting  and  setting  matters 
in  order,  and  with  a  force  of  nearly  eighty  thousand  moved  northward  tow- 
ard Goldsboro,  N.C.  On  his  route  he  captured  Orangeburg,  Columbia, 
and  Winnsboro,  S.C.,  compelled  the  rebels  to  evacuate  Charleston,  took 
Cheraw  and  Fayetteville,  and  entered  Goldsboro  on  the  24th  of  March, 
having  fought  two  battles  at  Averysboro  and  Bentonville,  the  latter  one  of 
considerable  severity.  Remaining  seventeen  days  at  Goldsboro  to  reclothe 
and  refit  his  army,  he  moved,  April  10,  on  Smithfield,  and  thence  to 
Raleigh  and  westward.  Receiving  overtures  for  surrender  from  Johnston, 
he  made  a  memorandum  of  an  agreement  with  him,  which,  being  unsatis- 
factory  to  the  government,  was  annulled,  and  on  the  26th  of  April  John- 
ston surrendered  on  the  same  terms  on  which  Lee  had  done. 

The  war  ended,  General  Sherman  was  put  at  the  head  of  one  of  the 
five  great  military  divisions,  that  of  the  Mississippi,  embracing  the  North- 
western States  and  territories,  Missouri,  and  Arkansas. 


Philip   Henry  Sheridan.  25 


PHILIP    HENRY    SHERIDAN. 


PHILIP  HENRY  SHERIDAN,  Major-General,  United  States  Army, 
was  born  in  Perry  County,  Ohio,  in  1831.  He  had  the  advantages 
of  a  good  common-school  education,  and  was  appointed  to  a  cadet- 
ship  at  West  Point  in  1848,  and  graduated  in  1853,  very  low  in  his  class, 
his  belligerent  disposition  reducing  his  standing  in  his  studies,  which  was 
otherwise  above  the  average. 

He  was  attached  to  the  First  United  States  Infantry  as  a  brevet  second 
lieutenant,  and  ordered  to  Fort  Duncan,  Texas.  In  the  spring  of  1855  he 
was  transferred  to  the  Fourth  Infantry  as  full  second  lieutenant,  and 
ordered  to  San  Francisco,  vi.i  New  York.  In  the  latter  city,  he  was  for 
two  months  in  command  of  Fort  Wood.  For  six  months  he  remained 
on  the  Pacific  coast,  and  among  the  Indian  tribes,  whose  confidence  he 
had  won,  and  whom  he  could  manage  better  than  any  other  officer. 

He  was  promoted  to  a  first  lieutenancy  in  the  winter  of  l86r,  and  when 
the  war  broke  out,  to  a  captaincy  in  the  Thirteenth  Infantry,  United 
States  Army,  and  ordered  to  join  his  regiment  at  Jefferson  Barracks,  near 
St.  Louis.  He  was  made  acting  chief  quartermaster  under  General  Custis, 
but  succeeded  indifferently.  During  the  Pea  Ridge  campaign,  he  was 
ordered  by  General  Blunt  to  impress  a  large  amount  of  provender  from  the 
citizens  of  Arkansas,  and,  refusing,  was  put  under  arrest,  and  ordered  to 
report  to  General  Halleck,  who  relieved  him  from  arrest,  made  him  his 
own  chief  quartermaster,  and  presently  allowed  him  to  accept  a  commis- 
sion of  colonel  of  a  Michigan  cavalry  regiment. 

On  the  14th  of  July,  1862,  with  his  regiment,  he  fought  and  defeated  a 
rebel  brigade  of  cavalry,  for  which  he  was  made  brigadier-general  of  vol- 
unteers, his  commission  dating  from  July  1,  1862;  but  his  command  was 
infantry,  not  cavalry,  to  which  he  was  best  adapted. 

Not  to  speak  of  some  Union  engagements  in  which  Sheridan  acquitted 
himself  well,  he  held  the  key  of  the  Union  position  at  Perryville  Octo- 
ber 8,  and  saved  the  Union  Army  from  defeat.  In  the  battle  of  Stone 
River  his  division  fought  with  the  utmost  desperation,  losing  all  the 
brigade  commanders,  seventy  officers,  and  half  the  men,  and  finally  fell 


26  The  grand  army  button. 


back  in  good  order  with  empty  cartridge-boxes,  but,   reforming,  fought 

through  the  remaining  days  of  the  battle.  At  Chickamauga,  on  the  first 
day,  he  prevented  a  serious  disaster  to  Wood's  corps;  and  on  the  second 
day,  though  driven  from  the  field  by  the  sudden  assault  of  the  enemy 
upon  the  gap  in  the  Union  lines,  he  fought  his  way  out,  and,  reforming 
his  men.  brought  his  division  into  line  before  midnight. 

At  Chattanooga,  his  bravery  and  dating  were  conspicuous  in  the  attack 
upon  Fort  Bragg.  His  horse  was  shot  under  him,  and  the  men  under  his 
leadership  were  almost  frantic  with  excitement.  He  followed  Sherman  to 
Knoxville,  to  raise  the  siege  of  that  city;  and  when  General  Grant  be- 
came lieutenant-general,  he  was  ordered  to  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  to 
the  command  of  the  Cavalry  Corps.  In  this  congenial  position  he  led 
several  expeditions  into  the  enemy's  country,  where  he  manifested  the 
utmost  daring  and  skill. 

In  August,  at  General  Grant's  request,  he  was  appointed  to  the  com- 
mand of  the  .Middle  Military  Division.  Here  he  had  for  his  task  the 
keeping  of  the  rebel  General  Early  in  order.  After  several  minor  skir- 
mishes, he  defeated  him  severely  on  the  19th  of  September,  near  Win- 
chester;  again  on  the  22d  at  Fisher's  Hill;  routed  and  drove  him  back 
on  the  8th  and  12th  of  October:  and  on  the  19th  of  October,  at  .Middle- 
town,  turned  what  had  been,  in  his  absence,  a  sad  and  disastrous  defeat 
of  his  troops  into  a  magnificent  victory.  In  the  next  three  or  four 
months  he  desolated  the  Shenandoah  Valley  and  smaller  valleys  adjacent, 
that  they  might  no  longer  serve  as  harboring-places  for  guerrillas;  and  in 
March,  1S65,  descended  the  valley,  captured  Staunton  and  Waynesboro, 
routed  Early  once  more,  and  destroyed  the  railroads  and  canals  and  other 
property,  to  the  value  of  over  fifty  millions  of  dollars.  Marching  by  way 
of  White  House,  he  joined  General  Grant's  army,  ar.d  after  two  days1 
rest  was  ordered  to  the  field  in  the  last  campaign,  where  to  his  bravery 
and  strategic  skill  was  mainly  due  the  capture  of  Five  Forks  and  the  pur- 
suit and  eventual  surrender  of  Lee. 

After  the  war  on  the  Atlantic  coast  was  over,  he  was  sent,  in  command 
of  a  force  of  over  eighty  thousand  men,  to  Texas  ;  and  Kirby  Smith  hav- 
ing surrendered,  after  a  few  weeks'  guarding  of  the  border  he  was  allowed 
to  reduce  his  army.  On  the  27th  of  June  he  was  appointed  commander 
of  the  Military  Division  of  the  Gulf,  comprising  the  department  of  Mis- 
sissippi, Louisiana,  Texas,  and  Florida. 

In  1869  General  Sheridan  was  promoted  to  lieutenant-general,  vice 
Sherman,  promoted  to  the  rank  of  general,  positions  which  both  these 
soldiers  filled  entirelv  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  whole  country. 


PHILIP    HENRY    SHERIDAN. 


28  The  Grand   army   button. 


LEE'S   SURRENDER, 


APPOMATTOX    COURT    HOUSE,    VIRGINIA,    APRIL  9,   1865. 


ABOUT  April  1,  1865,  the  confederate  forces  under  General  Lee  were 
totally  routed  and  flying  before  Grant's  army  :    victory  and  peace 
seemed  very  near,   and  General  Grant  wrote   the   following  letter 
to  Lee : 

Farmville,  Va.,  April  7,  1865. 

General  :  The  results  of  the  last  week  must  convince  you  of  the  hope- 
lessness of  further  resistance  on  the  part  of  the  army  of  northern  Virginia 
in  this  struggle.  I  feel  that  it  is  so,  and  regard  it  as  my  duty  to  shift  from 
myself  the  responsibility  of  any  further  effusion  of  blood,  by  asking  of  you 
the  surrender  of  that  portion  of  the  Confederate  States  Army  known  as 
the  army  of  northern  Virginia. 

U.  S.  GRANT, 

Licute)ia)il-general . 

Lee  had  been  counseled  by  his  own  officers  to  surrender.  He  hesitated 
to  acquiesce  in  their  advice,  saying,  "  I  have  too  many  brave  men.  The 
time  has  not  yet  come  to  surrender."  Still  he  replied  to  Grant's  letter  on 
the  evening  of  the  same  day  : 

General  :  I  have  received  your  note  of  this  day.  Though  not  entirely 
of  the  opinion  you  express  of  the  hopelessness  of  further  resistance  on  the 
part  of  the  army  of  northern  Virginia,  I  appreciate  your  desire  toavi.nl 
useless  effusion  of  blood,  and  therefore,  before  considering  your  proposi- 
tion, ask  the  terms  you  will  offer  on  condition  of  the  surrender. 

Gi  \".   R.  E.  LEE. 


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30  The   Grand   Ar.my   button. 


This  note  was  placed  in  General  Grant's  hands  on  the  morning  of  the 
8th,  while  he  was  still  at  Farmville.     He  immediately  replied: 

GENERAL  :  Your  note  of  last  evening  in  reply  to  mine  of  the  same  date, 
asking  the  conditions  on  which  I  will  accept  the  surrender  of  the  army  of 
northern  Virginia,  is  just  received.  In  reply  I  would  say  that,  peace  being 
my  great  desire,  there  is  but  one  condition  1  would  insist  upon;  namely, 
that  the  men  and  officers  surrendered  shall  be  disqualified  for  taking  up 
arms  against  the  government  of  the  United  States  until  properly  ex- 
changed. I  will  meet  you,  or  will  designate  officers  to  meet  any  officers 
you  may  name  for  the  same  purpose,  at  any  point  agreeable  to  you,  for 
the  purpose  ot  arranging  definitely  the  terms  upon  which  the  surrender 
of  the  armv  of  northern  Virginia  will  be  received. 

l\  S.  GRANT, 

Licutoiant-gencral. 

Meanwhile  the  Union  army  kept  on  in  its  pursuit,  and  the  fighting  con- 
tinued. Early  on  the  8th,  Grant  set  out  from  Farmville  to  join  Sheridan's 
advance.  He  had  been  absent  from  his  own  headquarters  several  da\s, 
and,  worn  out  with  anxiety  and  fatigue,  loss  of  sleep,  and  the  weight  of 
responsibility,  he  became  very  unwell,  and  was  obliged  to  halt  at  a  farm- 
house on  the  road.  While  here  he  received  about  midnight  another  letter 
from  Lee. 

April  8. 

I  received  at  a  late  hour  your  note  to-day.  In  mine  of  yesterday  I  did 
not  intend  to  propose  the  surrender  of  the  army  of  northern  Virginia,  but 
to  ask  the  terms  of  your  proposition.  To  be  frank,  I  do  not  think  the 
emergency  has  arisen  to  call  for  the  surrender  of  this  army,  but  as  the  res- 
toration of  peace  should  be  the  sole  object  of  all,  I  desired  to  know 
whether  your  proposals  would  lead  to  that  end.  1  cannot,  therefore,  meet 
you  with  a  view  to  surrender  the  army  of  northern  Virginia ;  but  as  far  as 
your  proposal  may  affect  the  Confederate  States  forces  under  my  command, 
I  should  be  pleased  to  meet  you  at  io  A.M.  to-morrow  on  the  old  stage- 
road  to  Richmond,  between  the  picket  lines  of  the  two  armies. 

R.  E.  LEE. 

This  letter  was  thoroughly  disingenuous  and  unworthy  of  Lee.  On  the 
other  hand,  Grant  in  reply  used  direct  language  and  meant  what  he  said. 
He  wrote,  on  the  morning  of  the  9th  of  April  : 


Lee's  Surrender.  31 


General  :  Your  note  of  yesterday  is  received.  I  have  no  authority  to 
treat  on  the  subject  of  peace.  The  meeting  proposed  at  10  A.M.  to-day 
could  lead  to  no  good.  I  will  state,  however,  that  I  am  equally  desirous 
for  peace  with  yourself,  and  the  whole  North  entertains  the  same  feeling. 
The  terms  upon  which  peace  can  be  had  are  well  understood.  By  the 
South  laying  down  their  arms,  they  would  hasten  that  most  desirable  event, 
save  thousands  of  human  lives,  and  hundreds  of  millions  of  property  not 
yet  destroyed.  Seriously  hoping  that  all  our  difficulties  may  be  settled 
without  the  loss  of  another  life,  I  subscribe  myself,  etc. 

U.  S.  GRANT. 

Lieutenant-general. 

Lee  received  Grant's  letter  on  the  morning  of  the  9th,  and  at  once 
replied  : 

General:  I  received  your  note  of  this  morning  on  the  picket  line, 
whither  I  had  come  to  meet  you,  and  ascertain  definitely  what  terms 
were  embraced  in  your  proposal  of  yesterday  with  reference  to.  the  sur- 
render of  this  army.  I  now  ask  an  interview,  in  accordance  with  the  offer 
contained  in  your  letter  of  yesterday,  for  that  purpose. 

R.  E.  LEE. 

This  communication  did  not  reach  Grant  until  about  noon.  He  im- 
mediately returned  answer : 

General:  Your  note  of  this  date  is  but  this  moment  (1 1.50  A.M.) 
received,  in  consequence  of  my  having  passed  from  the  Richmond  and 
Lynchburgh  roads  to  the  Farmville  and  Lynchburgh  road.  I  am  at  this 
writing  about  four  miles  west  of  Walkin  Church,  and  will  push  forward 
to  the  front  for  the  purpose  of  meeting  you.  Notice  sent  to  me  on  this 
road  where  you  wish  the  interview  to  take  place  will  meet  me. 

U.  S.  GRANT. 

On  receipt  of  this  note  Lee  rode  to  the  village  of  Appomattox,  and 
selected  the  house  of  a  farmer  named  McLean  for  his  interview  with 
Grant.  Grant  having  received  information  of  Lee's  waiting  at  the  farm- 
house, at  once  proceeded  to  the  interview.  The  house  was  a  very  plain 
building,  with  a  verandah.  Grant  was  conducted  through  a  narrow  hall 
into  a  small  parlor  containing  a  centre  table,  one  or  two  small  stands,  a 
sofa,  and  two  or  three  chairs.  Lee  was  accompanied  by  his  military  secre- 
tary and  chief-of-staff,  Col.  Charles  Marshall.     The  two  great  commanders 


32  The  Grand   army   button. 


shook  bands  heartily,  and  had  scarcely  taken  their  seats  when  their  first 
words  were  interrupted  by  the  entrance  of  the  Union  officers. 

General  Grant  had  not  personally  met  General  Lee  since  the  two  were 
in  Mexico  together,  the  latter  then  on  the  staff  of  Scott,  the  former  a 
subaltern.  The  conversation  naturally  hinged  at  first  upon  these  old  recol- 
lections. Then  there  was  a  slight  pause,  which  was  broken  by  General 
Lee,  who  said  :  "  1  asked  to  see  you,  general,  to  find  out  upon  what  terms 
you  would  receive  the  surrender  of  my  army." 

General  Grant  thought  a  moment  and  replied:   "My  terms  are  the 
All  officers  and  men  must  become  prisoners  of  war,  giving  up,  of  course, 
all    weapons,  munitions,  and   supplies.     Hut   a   parole   will    be    accepted, 
binding  officers  and  men    to  go   to  their  homes  and    remain  there    until 
exchanged,  or  released  by  proper  authority." 

Lee  responded   to  this  with  a  remark  not  exactly  pertinent  to  the  oc- 
casion ;  whereupon  Grant  continued,  asking: 

"Do  I  understand.  General  Lee,  that  you  accept  these  terms?  " 

••Yes,*''  replied  Lee,  faltering.     "  If  you  will  put  them  in  writing,  I  will 
put  my  signature  to  them*' 

General  Grant,  without  saying  more,  again  took  seat  at  the  table,  and 
wrote  the  following : 

Appomattox  Court  House, 

Virginia,  April  9,  1865. 

General  :  In  accordance  with  the  substance  of  my  letter  to  you  of 
the  8th  inst.,  I  propose  to  receive  the  surrender  of  the  army  of  northern 
Virginia  on  the  following  terms,  to  wit :  Rolls  of  all  the  officers  and  men 
to  be  made  in  duplicate,  one  copy  to  be  given  to  an  officer  to  be  desig- 
nated by  me,  the  other  to  be  retained  by  such  officer  or  officers  as  you 
may  designate.  The  officers  to  give  their  individual  paroles  not  to  take- 
up  arms  against  the  government  of  the  United  States  until  properly  ex- 
changed, and  each  company  or  regimental  commander  to  sign  a  like  parole 
for  the  men  of  their  commands.  The  arms,  artillery,  and  public  property 
to  be  parked  and  stacked,  and  turned  over  to  the  officers  appointed  by  me 
to  receive  them.  This  will  not  embrace  the  side  arms  of  the  officers,  nor 
their  private  horses  or  baggage.  This  done,  each  officer  and  man  will 
be  allowed  to  return  to  his  home,  not  to  be  disturbed  by  the  United  States 
authorities  so  long  as  they  observe  their  paroles  and  the  laws  in  force 
where  they  may  reside. 

U.  S.  GRANT, 

Lieutenant-general. 


Lee's  Surrender.  33 


While  Grant  was  penning  these  words  he  chanced  to  look  up,  and  his 
eyes  fell  upon  General  Lee's  sword.  He  paused  for  a  moment,  his  mind 
conceived  a  new  thought,  and  he  inserted  in  the  document  the  provision 
that  "  This  will  not  embrace  the  side  arms  of  the  officers,  nor  their  private 
horses  or  baggage."1 

General  Lee  read  what  Grant  had  written.  He  was  touched  by  the 
clemency  of  the  victorious  commander,  and  on  laying  down  the  paper 
said  simply,  in  a  husky  tone  of  voice,  "  Magnanimous,  general."  But  he 
essayed  to  gain  a  few  points,  and  remarked  :  "  The  horses  of  my  cavalry 
and  artillery,  general,  are  the  property  of  the  soldiers.  It  is,  I  hope, 
within  the  terms  that  they  shall  retain  their  property." 

"  It  is  not  within  the  terms,"  replied  General  Grant. 

Lee  glanced  at  the  paper  again  and  then  said,  "No.  You  are  right. 
The   terms  do  not  allow  it." 

"  And  now,"  said  Grant,  "  I  believe  the  war  is  over,  and  that  the  sur- 
render of  this  army  will  be  followed  soon  by  that  of  all  the  others.  I 
know  that  the  men,  and,  indeed,  the  whole  South,  are  impoverished.  I 
will  not  change  the  terms  of  the  surrender,  General  Lee,  but  I  will  in- 
struct my  officers  who  receive  the  paroles  to  allow  the  cavalry  and  artillery 
to  retain  their  horses,  and  take  them  home  to  work  their  little  farms." 

"  Such  an  act  on  your  part,  general,"  replied  Lee,  "  will  have  the  best 
effect  in  the  South." 

He  then  sat  clown  and  wrote  out  the  following  letter: 

Headquarters  Army  of  Northern  Virginia, 

April  9,   1865. 

General:  I  received  your  letter  of  this  date  containing  the  terms  ot 
the  surrender  of  the  army  of  northern  Virginia  as  proposed  by  you.  As 
they  are  substantially  the  same  as  those  expressed  in  your  letter  of  the 
8th  inst  ,  they  are  accepted.  I  will  proceed  to  designate  the  proper 
officers  to  carry  the  stipulations  into  effect. 

R.  E.  LEE, 

General. 
Lieut.-gen.  U.  S.  Grant. 

General  Grant  returned  to  his  headquarters,  where  the  firing  of  salutes 
welcomed  him.     He  gave  orders  to  have  it  stopped  at  once. 

"The  war  is  over,"  he  said;  "the  rebels  are  our  countrymen  again, 
and  the  best  sign  of  rejoicing  will  be  to  abstain  from  all  demonstrations 
in  the  field." 


34  1HE    URAND    ARMY    BUTT'  >N. 


He  dismounted  by  the  roadside,  sat  down  on  a  stone,  and  called  for 
pencil  and  paper.  An  aide-de-camp  offered  him  his  order  hook,  takin" 
which,  he  wrote  : 

Hon.   E.  M.  Stanton,  Secretary  of  War,    Washington: 

General  Lee  surrendered  the  army  of  northern  Virginia  this  afternoon, 
on  terms  proposed  by  myself.  The  accompanying  additional  correspond- 
ence will  show  the  condition  fully. 

U.  S.  GRANT, 

Lieutenant-general. 

And  thus  Grant  announced  to  the  government  the  end  of  the  great 
rebellion. 

From  the  War  Department, 

Washington,  D.C.,  April  9,  1865. 

Lieutenant-general  Grant  :  Thanks  be  to  Almighty  God  for 
the  great  victory  with  which  He  has  this  day  crowned  you  and  the  gallant 
armies  under  your  command.  The  thanks  of  this  department,  and  of  the 
government  and  of  the  people  of  the  United  States,  their  reverence  and 
honor,  have  been  deserved,  and  will  be  rendered  to  you  and  the  brave  and 
gallant  officers  and  soldiers  of  your  army,  for  all  time. 

EDWIN  M.  STANTON, 

Secretary  of  II  ar. 

And  thus  with  the  surrender  of  Gen.  Robert  L.  Lee,  commander  of  the 
Confederate  Army,  to  Gen.  Ulysses  S.  Grant,  commander  of  the  United 
States  Army,  came  the  end  of  this  unholy  rebellion. 


REVIEW    OF    THE    WAR. 


THE  war  which  commenced  in  the  spring  of  1861,  and  was  maintained 
for  four  years  with  a  violence  and  intensity  hardly  equalled  in  mod- 
ern history,  was  not,  on  the  part  of  the  South,  a  sudden  uprising, 
the  resilience  of  a  brave  and  generous  people,  goaded  at  last  to  resistance 
after  years  of  oppression  and  wrong,  and  without  previous  preparation 
seizing  on  such  weapons  as  were  available  to  throw  off  the  hated  yoke. 
On  the  contrary,  it  was  but  the  fulfilment  of  a  long-cherished  purpose. 
Thirty  years  before,  South  Carolina  had  revolted;  and  though  partly 
coaxed  and  partly  awed  into  submission  at  that  time,  the  political  leaders 
of  that  and  other  Southern  States  had  never  ceased  to  threaten  secession 
whenever  their  demands  had  been  refused  in  the  National  Legislature ; 
and  from  the  presidential  campaign  of  1856  they  had  made  active  prepara- 
tions to  consummate  their  purpose  at  the  next  presidential  election. 

In  the  cabinet  of  Mr.  Buchanan  they  had  their  pliant  tools  to  furnish 
from  the  nation's  resources  the  means  of  destroying  the  nation's  life  ;  and 
while  one  had  quietly  sent  to  the  States  which  were  to  rise  in  rebellion 
the  arms  and  ammunition  intended  for  the  nation's  defence,  till  seven 
hundred  and  seven  thousand  stand  of  arms  had  been  placed  in  the  South- 
ern arsenals,  another  had  sent  all  the  ships  of  the  navy,  except  a  mere 
handful,  to  distant  seas  for  long  cruises,  and  another  had  so  depreciated 
the  credit  of  the  Republic  that  its  bonds,  which  in  1857  stood  at  a  pre- 
mium of  seventeen  per  cent.,  had,  in  a  time  of  profound  peace,  fallen  to 
eighty-five  per  cent.,  and  even  at  this  price  no  large  sums  could  be  placed. 
The  Indian  agencies  had  been  given  over  to  plunderers  until  the  natives 
were  exasperated  and  ready  to  rise  and  massacre  the  whites.  Abroad, 
several  of  the  more  important  missions  and  consulships  were  filled  by  men 
hostile  to  the  nation's  existence.  And  in  the  army  and  navy  all  the 
officers  from  the  South  and  many  of  those  from  the  North  had  been  tam- 
pered with,  and  urged  by  the  strongest  inducements  to  abandon  the  cause 
oT  their  country.  What,  then,  were  the  causes  which  led  to  the  rebellion? 
They  were  mainly : 


36  *      The  Grand  army  button. 


i.  An  entire  difference  of  opinion  in  regard  to  the  fundamental  princi- 
ples of  government,  arising  from  the  different  social  and  economical  con- 
ditions of  society  North  and  South.  The  men  of  the  North  were  the 
endants,  for  the  most  part,  of  the  middle  class  of  English  yeomen. 
Sturdy,  self-reliant,  not  averse  to  labor,  but  enterprising  and  intelligent, 
they  had  maintained  commerce,  established  manufactories,  fostered  the 
mechanic  arts,  and  developed,  by  high  and  scientific  culture,  the  agricultu- 
ral wealth  of  their  region.  They  had  organized  free  schools  over  their 
entire  territory  ;  reared  academies,  colleges,  and  universities  of  the  highest 
character,  and  planted  their  churches  over  the  entire  region.  With  them 
labor  was  honorable,  and  the  hard  hand  of  the  son  'A'  toil  more  welcome 
than  the  lily  lingers  of  the  children  of  indolence.  Tin-  men  of  the  South 
were  descended  in  almost  equal  numbers  from  the  profligate  and  vicious 
younger  sons  of  the  English  aristocracy  of  two  centuries  ago  and  the  con- 
victs who  were  sent  over,  to  the  number  of  more  than  a  hundred  thousand 
while  Virginia  and  Maryland  were  penal  colonies,  with  a  small  infusion  of 
Huguenots  in  South  Carolina,  and  a  considerable  number  of  French  Creoles 
in  Louisiana.  Naturally  averse  to  labor,  they  had,  early  in  their  history, 
commenced  the  importation  of  African  slaves,  and.  under  the  stimulus  of 
the  profit  to  be  derived  from  the  culture  of  cotton,  had  laid  out  the  South- 
ern States  in  large  plantations,  often  of  many  thousand  acres,  which  were 
cultivated  by  slave  labor,  while  the  proprietors  of  the  plantations  and 
slaves  led  an  easy  and  luxurious  life.  There  was  little  commerce,  and  of 
that  little  nineteen-twentieths  was  conducted  by  Northern  men.  The  man- 
ufactures were  very  few,  and,  for  the  most  part,  only  of  the  rudest  kind  — 
coarse  burlaps,  negro  cloth,  the  simpler  agricultural  implements,  etc., 
while  the  great  bulk  of  needful  articles,  either  for  war  or  peace,  were 
brought  from  the  North.  The  mechanic  arts  did  not  flourish,  for  it  was 
not  respectable  to  be  a  mechanic.  Agriculture  on  an  extended  scale, 
though  prosecuted  with  the  rudest  implements  and  in  the  most  slovenly 
manner,  was  the  only  avocation  which  was  popular;  and  at  this  the  slaves 
were,  except  in  the  mountainous  districts,  the  only  toilers.  All  the  whites 
were  not  planters,  and  as  most  of  those  who  possessed  neither  plantations 
nor  slaves  were  in  abject  poverty,  and  the  system  of  large  plantations  ren- 
dered good  free  schools  impossible,  there  grew  up  a  class  of  poor,  degraded 
whites,  ignorant,  depraved,  and  vicious,  hating  the  negro  intensely,  and 
often  inferior  to  him  in  intelligence.  The  slave  system  of  agriculture  was 
proverbially  wasteful  and  destructive  ;  and  the  rich  and  fertile  lands  of  the 
South,  after  a  few  years  of  the  reckless  and  superficial  cultivation  bestowed 
upon  them,  became  barren,  and  the  slaveholders  emigrated  to  newer  lands 


review  of  the   War.  37 


to  ruin  them  in  the  same  way.  There  was  thus  a  constant  demand  for  new 
territory,  to  be  sacrificed  to  the  slave-holders  j  and  as  the  large  planters 
were  often  men  of  intelligence,  and  resolute  in  their  defence  of  the  princi- 
ples of  their  caste,  and  could  readily  obtain  seats  in  Congress,  they  were 
determined  to  secure  for  themselves  and  their  fellow-planters  the  right  of 
taking  their  slaves  to  any  portion  of  the  new  territories,  and  bringing 
them  under  the  influence  of  slavery. 

2.  The  State  Rights  doctrine,  first  broached  by  Thomas  Jefferson  and 
James  Madison  in  1798,  amplified  and  enlarged  by  John  C.  Calhoun  in 
1832  and  1833,  and  finally  fully  adopted  by  the  principal  Southern  leaders 
between  1850  and  i860,  was  another  cause  of  the  rebellion.  The  advo- 
cates of  this  doctrine  insisted  upon  the  supremacy  of  the  State  in  all  mat- 
ters. The  Union  was,  they  said,  only  a  confederation  of  States,  with  but 
feeble  powers,  and  when  the  sovereign  States  saw  fit  to  secede  from  it 
they  had  a  perfect  right  to  do  so.  This  right  was  to  be  exercised  when- 
ever the  majority  in  Congress  or  the  States  should  adopt  any  measure  by 
which  a  sovereign  State  should  feel  or  fancy  itself  aggrieved. 

3.  But  slavery,  directly  or  indirectly,  was  the  proximate  cause  of  the 
war.  The  North,  with  its  regard  for  free  and  honorable  labor,  felt  an  ab- 
horrence for  slavery  ;  and  the  poor  bondman  flying  from  its  torments,  its 
indignities,  and  its  vicious  indulgence  was  reluctantly  sent  back  into  its 
vortex,  and  often  succeeded  in  effecting  his  escape.  To  sacrifice  to  such 
a  system  the  virgin  soil  of  the  new  territories  seemed  a  crime  against 
nature,  and  claiming  an  equal  right  to  the  fair  lands,  as  yet  unsettled, 
with  the  South,  the  citizens  of  the  North  refused  to  sanction  slavery  in 
any  region  beyond  that  already  yielded  by  past  compromises.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  Southern  leaders,  accustomed  to  control  Congress  by 
their  demands  or  threats,  sought  the  permission  to  make  slave  territory 
of  all  the  region  west  of  Missouri,  the  recovery  of  their  slaves  everywhere 
in  the  United  States,  and  the  right  to  take  them  where  they  pleased  with- 
out incurring  risk  of  loss.  They  claimed  also  the  right  of  reopening  the 
slave-trade,  and  of  maintaining  the  interstate  slave-trade. 

They  saw,  however,  with  serious  apprehension,  that  in  each  succes- 
sive Congress  their  power,  hitherto  enforced  by  haughty  threats  and  the 
crack  of  the  slave-driver's  whip,  was  waning,  as  new  Western  States  were 
admitted,  and  the  opposition  to  slavery  and  slave-holding  aggression 
became  stronger  and  more  effectually  organized.  In  1856  this  opposition 
first  excited  their  alarm.  John  C.  Fremont,  the  candidate  of  the  Re- 
publican Party  for  president,  and  the  representative  of  the  men  who 
were  hostile  to  any  farther  aggressions  of  the  slave  power,  polled  a  very 


38  The  Grand  army  Button. 


heavy  vote  ;  and,  though  defeated,  his  party  evidently  possessed  strength 
enough  to  succeed  next  time. 

The  slave-holding  leaders  at  once  took  measures,  quietly,  to  thwart 
such  a  result  if  it  should  happen.  Many  of  them  were  not  averse  to  a 
disruption  of  the  Union,  if  only  they  might  make  suitable  preparation  for 
it  beforehand;  and  while,  as  we  have  said,  the  cabinet  of  Mr.  Buchanan 
lent  themselves  willingly  to  the  plans  of  the  conspirators,  measures  were 
taken  in  other  quarters  to  provide  for  the  coming  emergency.  Military 
schools  for  the  training  of  officers  were  established  in  many  of  the  South- 
ern States,  and  superintended  by  eminent  graduates  of  West  Point ;  South 
Carolina  imported  large  quantities  of  arms  and  munitions  of  war  from 
England.  The  railroads  and  telegraph  lines  through  the  South,  built 
mostly  with  Northern  capital,  were  pushed  forward  with  great  rapiditv  : 
and  at  length,  so  confident  were  the  arch  conspirators  of  success,  and  that 
with  but  moderate  resistance,  that  they  purposely  incited  divisions  in  the 
Democratic  party,  and  other  opponents  of  the  Republican  party,  which, 
by  the  nomination  of  three  other  candidates  for  the  presidency,  should 
insure  the  success  of  the  Republican  nominee.  This  accomplished,  their 
orators,  by  the  most  vehement  denunciation  of  Mr.  Lincoln  and  the  North, 
sought  to  "  fire  the  Southern  heart"  and  prepare  the  excitable  masses  for 
the  tragedy  of  secession.  The  people  of  the  North,  meantime,  except 
those  who  wore  in  the  secret  of  the  conspirators,  sturdily  refused  to  believe 
that  the  South  intended  to  secede  or  fight.  They  had  so  often  heard 
threats  of  secession  from  Southern  leaders  that  the  cry  of  "  Wolf! 
Wolf!"  had  lost  its  terrors.  The  day  of  election  came,  and  Mr.  Lincoln 
was  elected  by  a  large  majority  of  the  electoral  college  and  a  plurality  of 
the  popular  vote.  Within  four  days  after  the  election,  South  Carolina  had 
called  a  secession  convention,  and  on  the  17th  of  December  passed  an 
ordinance  of  secession ;  Mississippi  imitated  her  example  on  the  9th  of 
January;  Florida  on  the  10th;  Alabama  on  the  nth;  Georgia  on  the 
19th  ;  and  Louisiana  on  the  25th  ;  while  Texas  followed  on  the  7th  of 
February.  The  election  of  Mr.  Lincoln  was  the  occasion,  but  in  no  sense 
the  cause,  of  secession.  Seven  of  the  seceding  States  had  passed  the 
ordinance  before  he  had  left  his  home  in  Illinois  to  come  to  Washington 
to  take  the  oath  of  office.  The  Senate  and  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States  were  both  opposed  to  him  politically,  and  the  House  had 
but  a  small  majority  in  his  favor.  There  were  not  wanting  those  who 
hoped  that  by  yielding  to  the  demands  of  the  Southern  leaders,  making 
concessions  and  compromises  as  in  the  past,  war  might  yet  be  averted, 
and  the    "  erring  sisters  come  back   in  peace.1'     A  peace  conference  was 


Review   of   the   War.  39 


accordingly  assembled  in  Washington  on  the  4th  of  February,  1861. 
Delegates  were  present  from  twenty  States,  and  various  measures  were 
discussed.  A  majority  finally  united  in  a  series  of  propositions  which 
gave  no  satisfaction  to  any  party,  and  were  rejected  by  both. 

Mr.  Crittenden  offered  in  Congress  a  series  of  compromise  resolutions, 
which  after  long  discussion  and  numerous  modifications  were  finally 
rejected.  At  this  juncture  one  of  the  leading  conspirators,  afterward 
president  of  the  rebel  confederacy,  avowed  that  no  propositions  could 
be  made  which  would  be  satisfactory  to  them  ;  that  if  offered  carte-blancJie 
to  write  their  demands  they  would  refuse  it,  as  they  were  determined 
upon  separation. 

Mr.  Lincoln  was  inaugurated;  and  before  he  and  his  cabinet  had  fairly 
learned  the  condition  of  the  nation  the  conspirators  precipitated  the  war 
upon  the  government.  There  was  now  no  possibility  of  compromise  or 
settlement.  The  war  must  be  fought  out  till  one  or  the  other  party 
should  be  ready  to  yield.  How  stood  at  this  time  the  two  opposing  par- 
ties, the  United  States  and  the  insurgents,  as  to  their  preparation  for  the 
conflict?  The  conspirators  had  thirty  thousand  men  already  under  arms, 
and  a  hundred  thousand  more  already  called  out  and  fast  organizing  for 
service.  They  had  a  moiety  of  the  living  graduates  of  West  Point  ready 
to  take  command  of  their  armies,  and  the  graduates  of  their  half-dozen 
military  schools  for  subordinate  officers  ;  they  had  an  ample  supply  of 
muskets  and  rifles  and  pistols  from  the  United  States  armories,  furnished 
by  the  fraud  and  treason  of  John  1>.  Floyd  ;  and  a  large  supply  of  cannon 
of  all  calibres  in  the  arsenals,  forts,  and  navy  yards  they  had  seized. 
The  people,  wrought  up  to  frenzy  by  the  harangues  of  the  conspirators 
enlisted  with  great  promptness  ;  and  there  was  reason  to  fear  that  they 
would  seize  upon  the  capital  and  wreck  the  government  before  the  slower 
North  could  put  on  its  harness  for  the  fight. 

But  besides  these  advantages  they  had  others  of  no  mean  importance. 
From  the  first  it  was  evident  that  their  fighting  would,  for  the  most  part. 
be  defensive,  though  with  offensive  returns.  Adopting  this  mode  of 
warfare,  they  reserved  to  themselves  the  great  advantage  of  interior 
lines;  that  is,  supposing  the  two  armies  to  occupy  in  their  positions 
segments  of  two  parallel  circles,  the  outer  segment  and  what  was  bevoud 
it  would  represent  the  position  of  the  union  army,  while  the  inner  seg- 
ment and  what  was  within  it  would  exhibit  the  position  of  the  rebel  army. 
Of  course  troops,  supplies,  arms,  and  ammunition  could  be  moved  much 
more  readily  across  the  area  included  within  the  inner  segment  than 
around  the  outer  one. 


42  Thf  grand    \i<\n    Button. 


without  discipline,  except  in  the  casi  of  a  very  few  regiments.  The  men, 
in  many  instances  never  having  handled  a  musket  before  their  enlistment, 
were  hardly  arrived  in  their  camps  before  a  cry  was  set  up  by  the  news- 
papers of,  "On  to  Richmond!"  and  the  fiercest  denunciations  were 
heaped  upon  the  administration  and  the  veteran  lieutenant-general, 
because  he  did  not  order  an  immediate  advance.  .Meantime,  though  all 
ihle  expedition  had  been  used,  the  regiments  had  hardly  been  formed 
into  brigades,  or  the  brigades  into  divisions.  There  was  much  to  be 
learned  in  five  or  six  weeks;  but  the  clamor  arose  so  fiercely,  "On  to 
Richmond  !  On  to  Richmond  !  *'  that  General  Scott  suffered  himself  to  be 
over-persuaded,  and  ordered  an  advance  when  the  troops  were  as  yet 
wholly  unprepared  for  it,  though  some  of  them  were  approaching  the  close 
of  their  very  short  term  of  enlistment.  Then  followed  the  battle  of  Bull 
Run.  It  is  much  to  the  credit  of  this  undisciplined  mass  of  militia  that 
they  should  have  fought  so  well  as  they  did.  The  far  better  trained  force 
of  Beauregard  was  beaten  back,  and,  but  for  the  arrival  of  Johnston's  rein- 
forcements just  at  the  last  moment,  would  have  given  way,  routed  and 
utterly  discomfited,  but  the  evil  effects  of  the  want  of  discipline  showed 
themselves  in  the  panic  which  affected  the  Union  troops  when  their  rein- 
forced foe  began  to  rally  and  press  them  back.  But  not  all  mingled  in 
this  terrible  panic;  a  few  regiments  maintained  their  ground,  and  found 
that  the  rebels  were  too  much  exhausted  and  had  suffered  too  heavy  losses 
to  assume  the  offensive. 

The  day  seemed  one  of  sad  disaster,  but  it  was  a  blessing  in  disguise. 
Rallying  promptly  from  its  deep  humiliation,  the  nation  saw  the  need  of 
thorough  discipline,  of  able  leadership,  of  skilful  strategy.  Had  the 
North  been  successful  at  Bull  Run,  the  war  would  not  yet  be  ended. 
After  this  battle,  General  McClellan,  who  had  already  won  some  distinction 
in  West  Virginia,  became  the  actual,  and  in  November  following  the  titular, 
o-eneral-in-chief  of  the  armies  of  the  Union.  At  the  West  there  were  some 
movements  worthy  of  notice.  Captain  Lyon.  L'.S.  A.,  soon  after  brigadier- 
general  of  volunteers,  held  command  in  Missouri,  where  the  governor, 
Claiborne  F.  Jackson,  and  Sterling  l'rice.  a  former  governor  and  then 
major-general  of  the  Missouri  State  Guard  and  president  of  the  State 
Convention,  were  endeavoring  to  compel  the  secession  of  the  States. 

Removing  the  United  States  arm-  from  St.  Louis,  and  arresting  a 
brigade  of  the  State  Guard  under  General  Frost,  who  sought  to  seize  St. 
Louis  in  the  interests  of  the  secessionists,  General  Lyon  soon  compelled 
[ackson,  Price,  and  their  adherents  to  fly  westward,  driving  them  from  the 
capital,  skirmishing  with  them  at  Booneville.  and  finally  pushing  them  to 


.-> 


Review  of  the   War.  4:> 


a  point  where  the  rebel  general,  McCulloch,  brought  up  his  forces  to 
aid  them.  He  fought  and  defeated  them  at  Dug  Spring  on  the  2d  of 
August,  1 86 1,  and  on  the  9th  of  the  same  month,  in  the  desperate  and 
hard-fought  battle  of  Wilson's  Creek,  he  fell  while  leading  his  troops  in  a 
charge  upon  the  enemy.  His  death  temporarily  disheartened  his  troops, 
who  retreated  to  Rolla.  A  few  days  later,  the  rebels  in  large  numbers 
besieged  and  finally  captured  Lexington,  notwithstanding  its  gallant  de- 
fence by  Colonel  Mulligan.  Brigadier-General  Grant,  a  name  just  begin- 
ning to  come  into  notice,  had  been  appointed  commander  of  the  District  of 
Cairo,  had  thwarted  the  plans  of  the  rebel  general,  Jefferson  Thompson,  in 
south-eastern  Missouri,  occupied  Paducah  and  Smithland,  Ky.,  and  early 
in  November,  after  a  careful  reconnoissance,  had  attacked  and  captured 
the  rebel  camp  at  Belmont,  and  fought  the  bloody  but  indecisive  battle  at 
that  point. 

The  Army  of  the  Potomac,  now  rapidly  filling  up  its  numbers  under  the 
requisitions  of  the  president,  equipped,  organized,  and  disciplined  till  it 
was  one  of  the  finest  armies  ever  led  into  the  field,  whitened  all  the  hills 
around  Washington  with  its  tents.  These  were  the  days  of  "  anaconda" 
strategy.  The  rebellion  was  to  be  surrounded  on  all  sides  by  our  troops, 
and  then,  its  boundaries  being  gradually  diminished  by  our  contracting 
lines,  at  the  last  the  monster  was  to  be  crushed  into  one  shapeless  mass 
by  the  tightening  fold  of  our  armies. 

The  plan  is  said  to  have  been  devised  b.y  General  Scott,  and  to  have 
been  sanctioned  and  developed  by  General  McClellan.  It  was  very  pretty, 
and  lacked  but  one  element  of  success  —  practicability.  To  have  accom- 
plished it  would  have  required  at  least  six  millions  of  men  and  six  billions 
of  money,  and  even  then  some  weak  point  would  have  been  found  by  the 
enemy.  In  accordance  with  this  theory,  however,  expeditions  were  fitted 
out  for  the  capture  of  Forts  Hatteras  and  Clark  on  the  North  Carolina 
coast,  and  of  Forts  Beauregard  and  Walker  at  Hilton  Head,  the  keys  to  the 
line  harbor  of  Port  Royal,  and  other  enterprises  were  commenced  looking 
to  the  reduction  of  Roanoke  Island  and  Newbern,  and  the  capture  of  New 
Orleans  and  its  defences.  The  Hatteras  and  Hilton  Head  expeditions  both 
came  within  the  year  1861,  and  both  were  successful  —  the  latter  owing  to 
the  admirable  arrangement  of  Flag-Ofncer  (afterward  Rear-Admiral)  S. 
F.  Dupont,  proving  one  of  the  finest  naval  victories  of  the  war.  The 
war,  on  the  1st  of  January,  1862,  had  raged  for  nearly  nine  months,  and 
us  yet  had  made  but  little  impression  upon  the  Southern  confederacy. 
The  Union  Hag  floated  indeed  over  a  small  portion  of  North  and  South 
Carolina;   Fort  Pickens  and  Key  West  were  ours:    Kentucky  was  driven 


•ii  ["he  Grand  army  button. 


from  her  position  of  neutrality,  though  still  at  several  points  occupied  by 
the  rebels;  and  Missouri  was  under  Union  rule,  but  sorely  harassed  by 
bands  of  rebel  ruffians  and  guerrillas.  The  second  year  of  the  war  was  des- 
tined to  see  wider  conquests,  though  not  unmingled  with  serious  reversi  - 
and  disasters.  One  fold  of  the  anaconda  was  sweeping  southward  from 
St.  Louis  to  the  Alleghanies,  where  an  army  with  its  right  and  left  wings 
three  hundred  miles  asunder  pressed  the  rebel  forces  before  it.  The 
Army  of  the  Western  Department,  now  under  command  of  General 
Halieck,  had  its  left  wing  in  eastern  Kentucky,  where  the  sturdy  Thomas 
swept  steadily  and  grandly  onward,  defeated  Zollicoffer  at  Camp  Wildcat, 
killed  him,  and  routed  most  completely  his  army  at  Somerset  or  Mill 
Spring,  and  then,  his  toe  having  disappeared,  hastened  to  join  the  centre 
under  Buell.  Slow  in  movement,  but  an  excellent  disciplinarian,  Buell 
with  the  centre  had  occupied  a  threatening  position  toward  the  rebel 
stronghold  at  Bowling  Green,  where  Albert  Sydney  Johnston,  the  ablest 
of  the  rebel  generals,  had  fortified  himself  with  a  large  army.  Westward 
still,  (bant  was  moving  along  the  Tennessee  and  Cumberland  Rivers,  and 
preparing  under  General  Halleck's  directions  one  of  those  flanking  move- 
ments which  have  since  rendered  him  so  famous,  and  by  which  he  hoped 
ere  long  to  render  Columbus,  Ky.,  —  now  strongly  fortified  and  held  bv  a 
large  force  under  the  Bishop-General  Polk, — untenable  and  to  compel 
Johnston  to  evacuate  Bowling  Green  without  a  battle.  The  feat  is  soon 
accomplished. 

Fort  Henry  yields  on  the  6th  of  February  to  Flag-Officer  Foote's  well- 
directed  assault,  and  on  the  16th  of  the  same  month  Fort  Donelson,  after 
a  bloody  and  desperate  siege  of  four  days,  is  "  unconditionally  surrendered  " 
by  General  Buckner  to  General  Grant,  and  fourteen  thousand  prisoners 
grace  the  conqueror's  triumph.  Clarksville  and  Nashville  were  now  at  the 
mercy  of  the  Union  Army,  and  Johnston,  marching  rapidly  from  Bowling 
Green,  passed  through  Nashville  without  stopping,  and  pushed  on  to  the 
Mississippi  line.  While  his  colleague,  the  bishop-general,  made  the 
best  of  his  way  down  the  river  to  Island  Number  Ten,  where  in  a  strong 
position  he  could  for  the  time  defy  his  pursuers,  (.rant  did  not  rest  upon 
his  laurels.  Following  his  antagonist  by  way  of  the  Tennessee  River, 
he  landed  his  troops  at  Pittsburg  Landing,  near  Shiloh  Church,  about 
twenty  miles  from  Corinth,  a  place  of  great  strategic  importance,  where 
Johnston  was  concentrating  his  forces.  General  Halleck  had  ordered 
Buell  and  Thomas,  the  former  in  advance,  to  join  Grant  at  this  point. 
The  roads  were  heavy,  and  the  progress  of  the  troops  slow.  Johnston,  a 
brilliant  and  skilful  soldier,  at  once  saw  his  opportunity  and   improved  it. 


Review   of   the   War.  La 


His  force,  though  perhaps  not  equal  to  Grant's  and  Buell's  combined,  was 
nearly  double  that  of  Grant,  and  by  hurling  them  upon  Grant. before  his 
reinforcements  came  up,  he  might  be  able  to  destroy  his  army  and  then 
to  defeat  Buell.  But  the  deep  mud  delayed  by  a  day  or  more  his  advance, 
and  Buell  was  nearer  than  he  supposed.  Still,  on  the  first  day's  attack 
(Sunday,  April  6)  the  Union  troops  were  in  part  surprised,  and,  till  near 
the  close  of  the  day,  defeated.  The  greater  part  of  Prentiss'  division  with 
its  commander  were  taken  prisoners,  and  the  entire  army  driven  out  of 
their  camps  and  toward  the  river  bank.  Johnston,  the  rebel  commander, 
was  killed,  and  Beauregard  took  his  place.  Late  in  the  afternoon  the  tide 
of  battle  began  to  change.  The  gunboats,  coming  within  range  of  the 
enemy,  opened  upon  them  witli  their  heavy  shells,  and  Grant's  chief 
of  ordnance,  gathering  the  scattered  cannon,  packed  them  on  a  command- 
ing position  and  commenced  so  deadly  a  bombardment  at  short  range 
that  the  rebels  began  to  fall  back.  The  gunboats  continued  their  bom- 
bardment through  the  night,  and  the  morning  bringing  a  part  of  Buell's 
force,  the  Union  Army  assumed  the  offensive,  and  by  a  little  afternoon  had 
driven  back  the  rebels  and  regained  the  lost  ground.  The  rebels  retreated 
leisurely  to  Corinth,  where  they  were  pursued  and  besieged  till  the  30th  of 
May,  when  Beauregard  evacuated  it  and  moved  southward. 

The  battle  of  Shiloh  had  been  the  bloodiest  of  the  war  thus  far.  The 
bishop-general  did  not  find  his  stronghold  of  Island  Number  Ten  im- 
pregnable. A  canal  was  cut  through  a  bayon  on  the  west  side  of  the 
river,  by  which  the  gunboats  were  able  to  attack  it  from  below,  and,  New 
Madrid  having  been  captured  by  General  Pope,  the  position  of  the  rebels 
became  precarious,  and  they  flitted  southward  again,  leaving,  however, 
their  heavy  guns  and  a  considerable  number  of  prisoners.  Fort  Wright 
was  their  next  halting-place,  and  ere  long  they  were  dispossessed  of  this, 
and  Memphis  was  surrendered,  the  rebel  fleet  having  first  been  destroyed 
in  a  short  but  sharp  naval  action.  In  Arkansas  there  had  been  some  severe 
fighting;  the  Missouri  troops,  pushing  southward  to  keep  up  with  the 
sweep  of  the  "anaconda,"  had  encountered  the  enemy  in  large  force  at 
Pea  Ridge,  and  after  a  two  days1  fight,  by  the  gallant  conduct  of  General 
Sigel  the  Union  troops  were  victorious,  and  the  rebels  driven  over  the 
mountains. 

The  expedition  intended  for  the  capture  of  New  Orleans  and  its  defences 
had  wisely  been  placed  under  the  command  of  that  able  and  skilful  officer 
Captain  (now  Vice-Admiral)  Farragut,  and  the  cooperating  land-force 
under  General  Butler.  Leaving  Fortress  Monroe  in  February,  1862,  the 
expedition  was  delayed  at  Ship  Island  and  other  points  for  two  months, 


•li  The   Grand   Army   Button. 


from  her  position  of  neutrality,  though  still  at  several  points  occupied  by 
the  rebels;  and  Missouri  was  under  Union  rule,  hut  sorely  harassed  by 
bands  of  rebel  ruffians  and  guerrillas.  The  second  year  of  the  war  was  des- 
tined to  see  wider  conquests,  though  not  unmingled  with  serious  revei 
and  disasters.  One  fold  of  the  anaconda  was  sweeping  southward  from 
St.  Louis  to  the  Alleghanies,  where  an  army  with  its  right  and  left  wings 
three  hundred  miles  asunder  pressed  the  rebel  forces  before  it.  The 
Army  of  the  Western  Department,  now  under  command  of  General 
Halleck,  had  its  left  wing  in  eastern  Kentucky,  where  the  sturdy  Thomas 
swept  steadily  and  grandly  onward,  defeated  Zollicoffer  at  Camp  Wildcat, 
killed  him,  and  routed  most  completely  his  army  at  Somerset  or  Mill 
Spring,  and  then,  his  foe  having  disappeared,  hastened  to  join  the  centre 
under  Buell.  Slow  in  movement,  but  an  excellent  disciplinarian,  Buell 
with  the  centre  had  occupied  a  threatening  position  toward  the  rebel 
stronghold  at  Bowling  Green,  where  Albert  Sydney  Johnston,  the  ablest 
of  the  rebel  generals,  had  fortified  himself  with  a  large  army.  Westward 
still,  Grant  was  moving  along  the  Tennessee  and  Cumberland  Rivers,  and 
preparing  under  General  Halleck's  directions  one  of  those  flanking  move- 
ments which  have  since  rendered  him  so  famous,  and  by  which  he  hoped 
ere  long  to  render  Columbus,  Kv.,  —  now  strongly  fortified  and  held  by  a 
large  force  under  the  Bishop-General  Polk,  —  untenable  and  to  compel 
Johnston  to  evacuate  Bowling  Green  without  a  battle.  The  feat  is  soon 
accomplished. 

Fort  Henry  yields  on  the  6th  of  February  to  Flag-Officer  Foote's  well- 
directed  assault,  and  on  the  1 6th  of  the  same  month  Fort  Donelson,  after 
a  bloody  and  desperate  siege  of  four  days,  is  "  unconditionally  surrendered  " 
by  General  Buckner  to  General  Grant,  and  fourteen  thousand  prisoners 
grace  the  conqueror's  triumph.  Clarksville  and  Nashville  were  now  at  the 
mercy  of  the  Union  Army,  and  Johnston,  marching  rapidly  from  Bowling 
Green,  passed  through  Nashville  without  stopping,  and  pushed  on  to  the 
Mississippi  line.  While  his  colleague,  the  bishop-general,  made  the 
best  of  his  way  down  the  river  to  Island  Number  Ten,  where  in  a  strong 
position  he  could  for  the  time  defy  his  pursuers.  Grant  did  not  rest  upon 
his  laurels.  Following  his  antagonist  by  way  of  the  Tennessee  River, 
he  landed  his  troops  at  Pittsburg  Landing,  near  Shiloh  Church,  about 
twenty  miles  from  Corinth,  a  place  of  great  strategic  importance,  where 
Johnston  was  concentrating  his  forces.  General  Halleck  had  ordered 
Buell  and  Thomas,  the  former  in  advance,  to  join  Grant  at  this  point. 
The  roads  were  heavy,  and  the  progress  of  the  troops  slow.  Johnston,  a 
brilliant  and  skilful  soldier,  at  once  saw  his  opportunity  and   improved  it. 


Review   of   the   War.  4.5 


His  force,  though  perhaps  not  equal  to  Grant's  and  BuelPs  combined,  was 
nearly  double  that  of  Grant,  and  by  hurling  them  upon  Grant  before  his 
reinforcements  came  up,  he  might  be  able  to  destroy  his  army  and  then 
to  defeat  Buell.  But  the  deep  mud  delayed  by  a  day  or  more  his  advance, 
and  Buell  was  nearer  than  he  supposed.  Still,  on  the  first  day's  attack 
(Sunday,  April  6)  the  Union  troops  were  in  part  surprised,  and,  till  near 
the  close  of  the  day,  defeated.  The  greater  part  of  Prentiss'  division  with 
its  commander  were  taken  prisoners,  and  the  entire  army  driven  out  of 
their  camps  and  toward  the  river  bank.  Johnston,  the  rebel  commander, 
was  killed,  and  Beauregard  took  his  place.  Late  in  the  afternoon  the  tide 
of  battle  began  to  change.  The  gunboats,  coming  within  range  of  the 
enemy,  opened  upon  them  with  their  heavy  shells,  and  Grant's  chief 
of  ordnance,  gathering  the  scattered  cannon,  packed  them  on  a  command- 
ing position  and  commenced  so  deadly  a  bombardment  at  short  range 
that  the  rebels  began  to  fall  back.  The  gunboats  continued  their  bom- 
bardment through  the  night,  and  the  morning  bringing  a  part  of  Buell's 
force,  the  Union  Army  assumed  the  offensive,  and  by  a  little  afternoon  had 
driven  back  the  rebels  and  regained  the  lost  ground.  The  rebels  retreated 
leisurely  to  Corinth,  where  they  were  pursued  and  besieged  till  the  30th  of 
May,  when  Beauregard  evacuated  it  and  moved  southward. 

The  battle  of  Shiloh  had  been  the  bloodiest  of  the  war  thus  far.  The 
bishop-general  did  not  find  his  stronghold  of  Island  Number  Ten  im- 
pregnable. A  canal  was  cut  through  a  bayon  on  the  west  side  of  the 
river,  by  which  the  gunboats  were  able  to  attack  it  from  below,  and,  New 
Madrid  having  been  captured  by  General  Pope,  the  position  of  the  rebels 
became  precarious,  and  they  flitted  southward  again,  leaving,  however, 
their  heavy  guns  and  a  considerable  number  of  prisoners.  Fort  Wright 
was  their  next  halting-place,  and  ere  long  they  were  dispossessed  of  this, 
and  Memphis  was  surrendered,  the  rebel  fleet  having  first  been  destroyed 
in  a  short  but  sharp  naval  action.  In  Arkansas  there  had  been  some  severe 
fighting ;  the  Missouri  troops,  pushing  southward  to  keep  up  with  the 
sweep  of  the  "anaconda,"  had  encountered  the  enemy  in  large  force  at 
Pea  Ridge,  and  after  a  two  days'  fight,  by  the  gallant  conduct  of  General 
Sigel  the  Union  troops  were  victorious,  and  the  rebels  driven  over  the 
mountains. 

The  expedition  intended  for  the  capture  of  New  Orleans  and  its  defences 
had  wisely  been  placed  under  the  command  of  that  able  and  skilful  officer 
Captain  (now  Vice-Admiral)  Farragut,  and  the  cooperating  land-force 
under  General  Butler.  Leaving  Fortress  Monroe  in  February,  1862,  the 
expedition  was  delayed  at  Ship  Island  and  other  points  for  two  months, 


i.  the   (iRAND   armv  Button. 


and  it  was  not  until  the  18th  of  April  that  ii  approached  Forts  Jackson  and 
St.  Philip  00  the  Mississippi,  seventy  miles  below  New  Orleans.  These 
forts  were  works  of  great  strength,  and  had  a  large  and  effective  arma- 
ment and  full  garrisons.  To  make  assurance  doubly  sure,  however,  the 
rebels,  to  whom  the  possession  of  New  Orleans  was  of  the  greatest  im- 
portance, had  provided  against  the  possibility  of  .1  squadron  passing  the 
forts,  by  stretching  a  boom  and  chains  across  the  river,  by  a  large  fleet  of 
gunboats,  ironclads,  and  rams,  and  by  nreships  and  floating  torpedoes 
which  it  was  believed  would  destroy  any  vessels  which  might  attempt  the 
hazardous  passage.  For  six  days  Flag-Officer  Farragut  bombarded  the 
forts,  and,  though  he  succeeded  in  doing  some  damage,  there  was  as  yet 
no  indication  of  their  reduction,  lie  had  resolved  before,  if  the  bom- 
bardment proved  unsuccessful,  to  attempt  to  force  a  passage  past  the 
forts  and  through  the  obstructions,  and  thus  to  reach  New  Orleans. 
The  enterprise  was  one  of  great  hazard.  For  a  distance  of  nearly  a  mile 
his  vessels  would  be  exposed  to  the  secret  and  terrible  fire  of  the  siege- 
guns  of  the  forts;  then  the  chain  was  to  be  forced,  the  fireships,  the  tor- 
pedoes, and  the  enemy's  fleet,  nearly  equal  in  numbers  to  his  own,  and 
several  of  the  vessels  ironclad,  to  be  encountered.  On  the  24th  of  April, 
aided,  though  some  of  the  time  embarrassed,  by  a  fog,  the  effort  was 
made,  the  fire  of  the  forts  was  encountered  without  serious  injury,  the  chain 
was  broken,  the  fire-rafts  and  torpedoes  destroyed  with  but  slight  dam- 
age, and  the  rebel  fleet,  after  a  fierce  and  desperate  engagement  almost 
unparalleled  in  the  history  of  naval  warfare,  completely  annihilated,  thir- 
teen of  their  gunboats  and  the  ironclad  "  Manassas11  being  either  burned, 
sunk,  or  destroyed.  Of  his  own  squadron,  one  vessel  had  been  sunk  and 
three  disabled.  With  the  remainder  he  kept  on  his  way  up  the  river,  and 
on  the  26th  summoned  New  Orleans  to  surrender.  The  rebel  troops  left 
the  city  in  haste,  and  on  the  28th  it  was  occupied  by  Union  troops.  On 
the  29th  of  April  the  forts  surrendered  to  Captain  (now  Rear-Admiral) 
Porter.  Flag-Officer  Farragut  ascended  the  river,  captured  the  forts  on  its 
bank  near  New  Orleans  after  a  brief  bombardment,  passed  the  batteries  of 
Vicksburg,  and  communicated  with  Flag-Officer  Davis,  who  had  succeeded 
the  gallant  Foote  in  the  command  of  the  upper  Mississippi  squadron. 

On  the  Atlantic  the  "anaconda  policy1'  had  not  worked  so  well. 
Burnside  has,  indeed,  in  a  brilliant  campaign,  captured  Roanoke  Island, 
Plymouth,  Newbern,  Beaufort,  and  Fort  Macon,  N.C.,  and  Gilmore  had 
demonstrated  the  power  of  his  long-range  guns  to  reduce  strong  masonry 
fortifications,  by  the  capture  of  Fort  Pulaski.  But  in  Virginia  matters  were 
not  promising. 


REVIEW    OF     THE     WAR. 


The   Grand  Army  of  the  Potomac  lay  idly  in  its  camps  for  four  months 
after  its  organization   was  completed.     Five  and  twenty  or  thirty  miles 
away  around  the  heights  of  Manassas,  the  rebel  army,  far  inferior  in  num- 
bers, in  equipments,  in  ordnance  and  supplies,  had  lain  through  the  long 
winter  undisturbed.     The  new  general  had  ever  some  excuse  ready  for 
declining  to  move.     At  length,  tired  of  this  constant  procrastination,  the 
president  took  the  matter  in  hand,  and  issued  orders  for  an  advance  on 
the  enemy  on  the  22d  of  February.     When  at  length  the  vast  army  moved 
forward,  the  enemy,  weary  of  waiting,  had  abandoned  their  camps   and 
moved  southward.     Marching  back  to  the  Potomac,  McClellan  embarked 
his  main  army  on  transports  and  sailed  for  Fortress  Monroe.     A  consider- 
able garrison  was  left  for  Washington,  a  small  force  in  the   Shenandoah 
Valley  under  General  Banks,  and  one  corps  under  General  McDowell  sta- 
tioned near  Fredericksburg.     Meanwhile,  the  most  remarkable  naval  con- 
flict of  our  times  had  taken  place  in  Hampton  Roads.     The  "  Merrimac," 
one  of  our  own  frigates,  partially  burned  at  the  abandonment  of  the  Gos- 
port  Navy  Yard,  had  been  raised  by  the  rebels,  repaired,  and  clad  with 
railroad  iron.     On  the  7th  of  March  she  came   out  of  Norfolk,  destroyed 
by  her  ram  the  "  Congress"  and  "  Cumberland,"  two  Union  frigates,  and 
attempted  to  attack  the  "  Minnesota,"  one  of  the  Union  ships  of  the  line, 
but  could  not  get  at  her  in  consequence  of  the  low  state  of  the  tide,  and 
during  the  night  lay  at  anchor  ready  to  renew  the  destruction  of  the  pre- 
vious day.     But  during  the  night  a  singular-looking  craft,  appropriately 
enough  described  as  resembling  a  cheese-box  on  a  raft,  entered  the  harbor, 
and  the  next  morning  advanced  to  give  the  iron-clad  ship  battle.      In  vain 
the  latter  exerted  all  her  powers  to  destroy  or  escape  her  little  antagonist ; 
impenetrable  to  her  shots,  she  is  yet  nimble  enough-  to  sail  round  her,  to 
throw  her  huge  shells  into  her  portholes  whenever  they  are  opened,  and 
to  cripple  her  steering-apparatus  ;  and  at  last   the  monster  armored  ship, 
seriously  damaged  and    her  commander  dangerously  wounded,  withdrew 
from  the  conflict,  and  a  few  weeks  later  was  blown  up  by  the  rebels  to  pre- 
vent her  falling  into  the  hands  of  the  United  States  authorities.     We  left 
the  Grand  Army  on  its  way  to  Fortress  Monroe.     Landing  on  the  penin- 
sula, they  soon  made  their  way  toward  Yorktown,  where  the  rebels,  with 
less  than  twenty  thousand  men,  occupied  some  hastily  reared  works.    Gen- 
eral McClellan  had  over  one  hundred  thousand  men,  and  could  easily  have 
carried  these  works  by  assault,  but  he  preferred  to  institute  a  siege  ;  and 
General    Lee,    who   was   in   command,    having   been   largely   reinforced, 
awaited  an  attack  until  the  3d  of  May,  when  he  withdrew  to  Williamsburg. 
Hither  McClellan  followed,  fought  a  battle  in  which  for  hours  our  men 


48  THE    GRAND    ARMY    BUTTON. 


were  slaughtered  without  definite  object,  and  the  next  morning  found  that 
Lee  had  left  Williamsburg  and  was  moving  leisurely  toward  Richmond. 
Thither  McClellan  pursued  as  leisurely,  digging  through  the  swamps,  and 
losing  more  men  from  the  deadly  malaria  of  the  Chickahominy  marshes 
than  he  would  have  done  in  half  a  dozen  battles. 

Slowly  bridges   were   thrown   across   the  Chickahominy  and   a  single 
division  sent  across  to  occupy  the  ground.     The  rebels,  fully  informed  of 
these  movements,  sent  out  a  force  from  Richmond  to  overwhelm  these  few 
troops,  while  a  rising  flood  in  the  Chickahominy  would,  they  reasoned, 
prevent  their  reinforcement.     On    the   first   day  the    Union  troops  were 
defeated  and  driven  back,  but.  receiving  reinforcements,  they  took  the 
offensive,  and  the  next  day  drove  the  rebels  back  to  within  two  miles  of 
Richmond,   and   could    have   entered    and   captured   that   city   had   not 
McClellan    recalled    them.       For    the    next     twenty- five    days    General 
McClellan  continued  to  fortify  the  banks  of  the  Chickahominy,  his  men 
meantime   falling  victims  to  the  malarial  fever,  till  at  one  time  he  had 
nearly  thirty  thousand  on  his  sick  list  —  diversifying  his  labors,  meanwhile, 
by  calling  for  more  men.     At  this  time  he  had  one  hundred  and  fifty-eight 
thousand  men  on  his  rolls,  and  one  hundred  and  twenty  thousand  effectives. 
He  represented  the  rebels  as  having  two  hundred  thousand  men,  and  the 
addition  of  Jackson's  corps,  which  could  not,  he  said,  now  be  prevented, 
would  increase  their  force  to  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand.     In  fact, 
the  rebels  had  fifty  thousand  men,  and  when  Jackson's  corps  was  added, 
less  than  ninety  thousand,  and,  until  they  had  learned  the  character  of 
their  foe,  were  trembling  with  fear  lest  we  should  assault  Richmond,  which 
could  not  have  been  held  against  a  resolute  attack.     After  attempting  in 
vain  to  throw  all  the  blame  of  a  defeat  upon  the  president  or  Secretary 
Stanton,  General  McClellan  fought  two  battles,  in  neither  of  which  did  he 
employ  half  his  force,  and  resolved  to  change  his  base  —  or,    in  plain 
English,  to  raise  the  siege  of  Richmond  and  retreat.     This  retreat  was 
conducted  under  the  direct  supervision  of  his  subordinate  generals,  many 
of  whom  by  their  bravery  under  such  adverse  circumstances  added  to  their 
reputation.     He  reached  Harrison's  Landing,  fifteen  miles  from  Richmond,  • 
with   a   loss    in    killed,  wounded,   sick,    and    stragglers   of  nearly   thirty 
thousand  men.     It  would  still  have  been  possible  to  have  captured  Rich- 
mond had  the  Union  commander  attempted  it  in  earnest,  though  the  diffi- 
culty of  doing  so  was  immensely  increased  from  his  present  position  ;  but 
McClellan  frittered  away  the  summer  in  clamoring  for  more   men,  and 
refused    to    move    without    them.     The    new    general-in-chief,    General 
Halleck,  at   length  recalled  the  troops  to  Alexandria  and  Acquia  Creek, 


Review   of   the   War.  49 


where  they  were  greatly  needed.  McClellan  protested,  prayed,  and  urged 
further  trial,  and  finding  all  of  no  avail,  finally,  after  a  fortnight's  delay, 
embarked.  Matters  were  not  progressing  much  more  favorably  in  north- 
ern Virginia.  '  General  Banks,  who  had  ventured  up  the  Shenandoah 
Valley  in  April,  driving  the  rebels  before  him,  was  suddenly  confronted, 
early  in  May,  by  "  Stonewall"  Jackson's  force,  more  than  quadruple  his 
own,  and  compelled  to  retreat,  which  he  did  with  considerable  skill,  north 
of  the  Potomac.  Fremont,  now  in  command  of  the  Mountain  Department, 
and  McDowell  at  Fredericksburg,  were  summoned  to  repel  his  invasion; 
and  his  object  (of  drawing  troops  away  which  threatened  Richmond  from 
the  North)  having  been  accomplished,  Jackson  i'n  return  made  a  masterly 
retreat  up  the  Shenandoah  Valley,  and,  after  fighting  two  battles  at  Cross 
Keys  and  Port  Republic,  made  his  escape  to  Gordonsville,  and  thence,  with 
largely  recruited  forces,  to  Richmond,  where  he  arrived  in  season  to  harass 
McClellan's  army  in  its  retreat  across  the  peninsula. 

It  was  now  resolved  to  put  Fremont's,  Banks',  and  McDowell's  com- 
mands together  under  General  Pope,  as  the  Army  of  Virginia,  and,  threat- 
ening Richmond  from  the  north,  so  distract  Lee's  attention  that  it  might 
fall  an  easy  prey  to  McClellan's  attack  from  the  south.  General  Pope's 
plans  were  well  arranged,  and  had  he  received  the  cooperation  of  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac  they  could  hardly  have  failed  of  success.  General 
Pope  had  advanced  toward  Richmond,  and  had  crossed  the  Rappahannock, 
when  he  found  that  Lee,  disdaining  to  notice  McClellan's  presence  at 
Harrison's  Landing  or  convinced  that  he  had  nothing  to  fear  from  him, 
was  moving  with  his  whole  army,  numbering  from  ninety  thousand  to  one 
hundred  thousand  men,  upon  him.  Pope  had  but  forty  thousand  men, 
and  his  only  tactics  were  to  fight  and  fall  back  till  reinforcements  could 
reach  him-  which  should  make  his  force  equal  to  that  of  his  adversary. 
Retreating  campaigns  are,  however,  very  generally  fatal  to  the  morals  of 
an  army,  unless  it  is  in  the  highest  state  of  discipline,  and  it  is  greatly  to 
General  Pope's  credit  that,  fighting  at  such  odds  and  constantly  falling 
back,  unsupported  to  anything  like  the  extent  he  should  have  been  by  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac,  his  brave  but  half-starved  army  should  have  re- 
tained to  the  last  its  courage,  its  organization,  and  its  splendid  fighting- 
powers.  The  battles  of  this  campaign  extended  from  Cedar  Mountain  by 
way  of  Manassas  and  Centreville  almost  to  the  outer  defences  of  Washing- 
ton itself,  and  when  at  last  the  army  of  Virginia  joined  their  brethren  of 
the  Army  of  the  Potomac  within  the  fortifications  around  Washington, 
Lee  pressed  on  into  Maryland  with  the  intention  of  carrying  the  war  into 
the   Northern   States,   and   drawing   thence  ample   supplies  for  his  army. 


I  HE    GRAND    ARMY    BUTTON. 


whom  he  strongly  urged  to  adopt  a  system  of  gradual  emancipation,  he- 
had  fully  made  up  his  mind  to  adopt  the  measure,  and  had  prepared  a 
proclamation,  indicating  his  intention,  early  in  the  summer  of  1862,  but 
postponed  its  publication  until  it  could  follow  upon  the  heels  of  a  victory. 
On  the  22d  of  September,  1862,  he  issued  his  proclamation,  announcing 
that  on  the  first  day  of  January,  1863,  he  should  proclaim  all  the  slaves  in 
States  and  parts  of  States  which  were  then  insurgent  free,  and  that  he 
pledged  the  power  of  the  government  to  effect  and  maintain  their 
freedom. 

The  new  year  (1863)  dawned  upon  the  consummation  of  this  act  of 
emancipation.  It  was  hailed  by  the  colored  race  with  extravagant  joy, 
while  the  rebels,  who  saw  in  it  the  presage  of  their  downfall,  were  greatly 
exasperated,  and  made  abundant  threats  and  passed  acts  of  retaliation.  The 
year  was,  however,  one  of  general  prosperity  to  the  Union  cause.  The 
disasters  were  few  and  the  successes  many.  Numerous  regiments  of 
colored  troops  were  enlisted  in  the  service  of  the  Union,  and  on  many 
battle-fields  proved  their  courage  and  ability.  In  the  East,  after  a  brief 
period,  Hooker  succeeded  Burnside  in  command  of  the  Army  of  the  Poto- 
mac, and  attempted  to  turn  Lee's  left  flank  at  Chancellorsville,  sending. 
meantime,  a  cavalry  force  to  cut  his  communications.  Lee,  fully  master  of  the 
situation,  met  Hooker's  movement  by  a  counter  flank,  sending  "Stone- 
wall "  Jackson  to  strike  and  roll  up  Hooker's  right,  which  he  accomplished, 
partly  from  a  want  of  watchfulness  on  the  part  of  the  Union  troops,  and 
partly  from  the  panic  with  which  his  sudden  attack  struck  a  part  of  the 
Eleventh  Corps.  The  battle  raged  fiercely  that  night  and  the  next  morning, 
and  Hooker*s  troops  were  not  only  forced  back,  but  crowded  northward 
toward  the  fords  of  the  Rappahannock.  Sedgwick's  corps,  which  had 
been  ordered  to  take  Fredericksburg,  and  had  accomplished  its  work  after 
a  severe  battle,  pressing  westward  to  join  the  rest  of  the  army,  encountered 
the  whole  of  Lee's  army  instead,  which  had  passed  Hooker,  and.  while 
his  forces  lay  still  in  their  camps,  were  fighting  all  day  long  with  Sedg- 
wick's  single  corps  of  brave  men.  Hooker  finally  recrossed  the  Rappahan- 
nock without  having  accomplished  his  object,  but  with  heavy  losses  in 
men  and  artillery.  Lee,  emboldened  by  the  supposed  demoralization  of 
Hooker's  army,  and  not  deterred  by  the  ill  success  of  his  former  inroad 
into  the  Northern  States,  started  early  in  June  for  a  new  and  more  ex- 
tensive expedition.  Hooker  followed  and  occupied  interior  lines,  crowd- 
ing Lee's  army  westward  by  means  of  his  cavalry,  beyond  the  Bull  Run 
Mountains,  and  compelling  him  to  cross  the  Potomac  higher  up  than  he 
liked.     The  last  days  of  June  indicated  by  the  approaching  columns  of 


review  of  the  War.  53 


the  two  armies  that  the  great  conflict  would  take  place  at  or  near  Gettys- 
burg, Penn.,  and  hither  the  arm)'  of  the  Potomac,  under  its  new  com- 
mander, General  Meade  (General  Hooker  having  been  relieved),  hastened, 
and  for  three  days  battle  raged  as  never  before  on  this  continent.  The 
Union  army,  partially  defeated  the  first  day,  gained  and  held  the  strong 
positions  of  Cemetery  Hill,  Round  Top,  and  Little  Round  Top,  and  re- 
pulsed all  the  assaults  of  the  enemy  with  a  most  fearful  slaughter,  till  at 
last,  his  best  troops  slain,  some  of  his  ablest  generals  killed  and  wounded, 
one-third  of  his  army  put  hors  de  combat,  and  his  ammunition  nearly  ex- 
pended, he  began  to  move  for  the  Potomac. 

Meade's  pursuit  was  not  so  active  and  vigilant  as  it  should  have  been, 
or  he  might  have  compelled  the  surrender  of  Lee's  army  ;  but  he  had  un- 
doubtedly achieved  a  great  victory.  Lee  escaped  to  the  Rapidan,  and 
thither  Meade  followed  ;  and  except  an  unsuccessful  attempt  of  the  latter  to 
penetrate  between  the  wings  of  Lee's  army  in  the  autumn,  there  was  no 
further  movement  of  the  two  armies  during  the  year.  Charleston  must 
be  captured  ;  and  while  an  attack  on  its  outer  defences  in  the  summer  of 
1862  had  proved  abortive,  and  a  naval  assault  under  Rear-Admiral  Dupont 
in  April  had  been  unavailing,  the  government  and  the  nation  were  not 
satisfied.  General  Gilmore,  the  hero  of  Fort  Pulaski,  was  put  in  command 
of  the  land  forces,  and  Rear-Admiral  Dahlgren  of  the  naval  force.  General 
Gilmore  chose  Morris  Island  as  the  base  of  his  operations.  The  lower 
portion  of  the  island  was  occupied  ;  the  strong  earthwork,  Fort  Wagner, 
twice  assaulted  with  fearful  loss,  and  finally  captured  by  siege  operations  ; 
Fort  Sumter  bombarded  till  it  was  a  shapeless  mass  of  ruins ;  and  Charles- 
ton shelled  till  its  entire  lower  town  became  uninhabitable.  In  the 
Gulf,  Galveston  had  been  captured  by  a  portion  of  Rear-Admiral  Farra- 
gut's  squadron,  only  to  be  held,  however,  for  a  few  weeks,  when  by  a 
treacherous  attack  the  rebels  regained  possession,  captured  the  "  Harriet 
Lane,"  and  caused  the  destruction  of  the  "  Westfield."  In  this  unfortunate 
affair  the  gallant  Renshaw,  Wainwright,  Lee,  and  Zimmerman,  officers  of 
the  United  States  Navy,  sacrificed  their  lives.  On  the  Mississippi,  Gene- 
ral Grant,  after  trying  in  vain  to  capture  Vicksburg  from  the  north  and 
northwest,  sent  several  of  the  gunboats,  and  a  number  of  transports  passed 
the  batteries  in  safety,  and,  marching  his  troops  down  the  west  side  of  the 
Mississippi,  crossed  at  Bruinsburg,  thirty  miles  below  Vicksburg,  and, 
moving  north-eastward,  fought  six  battles  in  seventeen  days,  captured 
Jackson,  the  capital  of  the  State,  and  sat  down  before  Vicksburg,  which  he 
now  completely  invested,  on  the  18th  of  May.  After  two  assaults,  neither 
of  them  productive  of  much  advantage,  he  proceeded  with  a  regular  system 


52  The  grand  army   Button. 


whom  he  strongly  urged  to  adopt  a  system  of  gradual  emancipation,  he 
had  fully  made  up  his  mind  to  adopt  the  measure,  and  had  prepared  a 
proclamation,  indicating  his  intention,  early  in  the  summer  of  1862,  but 
postponed  its  publication  until  it  could  follow  upon  the  heels  of  a  victory. 
On  the  22d  of  September,  1862,  he  issued  his  proclamation,  announcing 
that  on  the  first  day  of  January,  1863,  he  should  proclaim  all  the  slaves  in 
States  and  parts  of  States  which  were  then  insurgent  free,  and  that  he 
pledged  the  power  of  the  government  to  effect  and  maintain  their 
freedom. 

The  new  year  (1S63)  dawned  upon  the  consummation  of  this  act  of 
emancipation.  It  was  hailed  by  the  colored  race  with  extravagant  joy, 
while  the  rebels,  who  saw  in  it  the  presage  of  their  downfall,  were  greatly 
exasperated,  and  made  abundant  threats  and  passed  acts  of  retaliation.  The 
year  was,  however,  one  of  general  prosperity  to  the  Union  cause.  The 
disasters  were  few  and  the  successes  many.  Numerous  regiments  of 
colored  troops  were  enlisted  in  the  service  of  the  Union,  and  on  many 
battle-fields  proved  their  courage  and  ability.  In  the  East,  after  a  brief 
period,  Hooker  succeeded  Burnside  in  command  of  the  Army  of  the  Poto- 
mac, and  attempted  to  turn  Lee's  left  flank  at  Chancellorsville,  sending, 
meantime,  a  cavalry  force  to  cut  his  communications.  Lee,  fully  master  of  the 
situation,  met  Hooker's  movement  by  a  counter  flank,  sending  "  Stone- 
wall "  Jackson  to  strike  and  roll  up  Hooker's  right,  which  he  accomplished, 
partly  from  a  want  of  watchfulness  on  the  part  of  the  Union  troops,  and 
partly  from  the  panic  with  which  his  sudden  attack  struck  a  part  of  the 
Eleventh  Corps.  The  battle  raged  fiercely  that  night  and  the  next  morning, 
and  Hooker's  troops  were  not  only  forced  back,  but  crowded  northward 
toward  the  fords  of  the  Rappahannock.  Sedgwick's  corps,  which  had 
been  ordered  to  take  Fredericksburg,  and  had  accomplished  its  work  after 
a  severe  battle,  pressing  westward  to  join  the  rest  of  the  army,  encountered 
the  whole  of  Lee's  army  instead,  which  had  passed  Hooker,  and,  while 
his  forces  lay  still  in  their  camps,  were  fighting  all  day  long  with  Sedg- 
wick's single  corps  of  brave  men.  Hooker  finally  recrossed  the  Rappahan- 
nock without  having  accomplished  his  object,  but  with  heavy  losses  in 
men  and  artillery.  Lee,  emboldened  by  the  supposed  demoralization  of 
Hooker's  army,  and  not  deterred  by  the  ill  success  of  his  former  inroad 
into  the  Northern  States,  started  early  in  June  for  a  new  and  more  ex- 
tensive expedition.  Hooker  followed  and  occupied  interior  lines,  crowd- 
ing Lee's  army  westward  by  means  of  his  cavalry,  beyond  the  Bull  Run 
Mountains,  and  compelling  him  to  cross  the  Potomac  higher  up  than  he 
liked.     The  last  days  of  June  indicated  by  the  approaching  columns  of 


review  of  the  War.  53 


the  two  armies  that  the  great  conflict  would  take  place  at  or  near  Gettys- 
burg, Penn.,  and  hither  the  army  of  the  Potomac,  under  its  new  com- 
mander, General  Meade  (General  Hooker  having  been  relieved),  hastened, 
and  for  three  days  battle  raged  as  never  before  on  this  continent.  The 
Union  army,  partially  defeated  the  first  day,  gained  and  held  the  strong 
positions  of  Cemetery  Hill,  Round  Top,  and  Little  Round  Top,  and  re- 
pulsed all  the  assaults  of  the  enemy  with  a  most  fearful  slaughter,  till  at 
last,  his  best  troops  slain,  some  of  his  ablest  generals  killed  and  wounded, 
one-third  of  his  army  put  hors  de  combat,  and  his  ammunition  nearly  ex- 
pended, he  began  to  move  for  the  Potomac. 

Meade's  pursuit  was  not  so  active  and  vigilant  as  it  should  have  been, 
or  he  might  have  compelled  the  surrender  of  Lee's  army  ;  but  he  had  un- 
doubtedly achieved  a  great  victory.       Lee  escaped  to  the  Rapidan,  and 
thither  Meade  followed  ;  and  except  an  unsuccessful  attempt  of  the  latter  to 
penetrate  between  the  wings  of  Lee's  army  in  the  autumn,  there  was  no 
further  movement  of  the  two  armies  during  the  year.      Charleston  must 
be  captured  ;  and  while  an  attack  on  its  outer  defences  in  the  summer  of 
1862  had  proved  abortive,  and  a  naval  assault  under  Rear-Admiral  Dupont 
in  April  had  been  unavailing,  the  government  and  the  nation  were  not 
satisfied.    General  Gilmore,  the  hero  of  Fort  Pulaski,  was  put  in  command 
of  the  land  forces,  and  Rear-Admiral  Dahlgren  of  the  naval  force.   General 
Gilmore  chose  Morris  Island  as  the  base  of  his  operations.     The  lower 
portion  of  the  island  was  occupied  ;  the  strong  earthwork,  Fort  Wagner, 
twice  assaulted  with  fearful  loss,  and  finally  captured  by  siege  operations; 
Fort  Sumter  bombarded  fill  it  was  a  shapeless  mass  of  ruins ;  and  Charles- 
ton  shelled   till   its   entire   lower  town   became  uninhabitable.      In    the 
Gulf,  Galveston  had  been  captured  by  a  portion  of  Rear-Admiral  Farra- 
gut's  squadron,  only  to  be  held,  however,  for  a  few  weeks,  when  by  a 
treacherous  attack  the  rebels  regained  possession,  captured  the  "Harriet 
Lane,"  and  caused  the  destruction  of  the  "  Westfield."    In  this  unfortunate 
affair  the  gallant  Renshaw,  Wainwright,  Lee,  and  Zimmerman,  officers  of 
the  United  States  Navy,  sacrificed  their  lives.     On  the  Mississippi,  Gene- 
ral Grant,  after  trying  in  vain  to  capture  Vicksburg  from  the  north  and 
northwest,  sent  several  of  the  gunboats,  and  a  number  of  transports  passed 
the  batteries  in  safety,  and,  marching  his  troops  down  the  west  side  of  the 
Mississippi,  crossed  at  Bruinsburg,   thirty  miles  below   Vicksburg,  and, 
moving   north-eastward,   fought   six   battles  in  seventeen  days,  captured 
Jackson,  the  capital  of  the  State,  and  sat  down  before  Vicksburg,  which  he 
now  completely  invested,  on  the  i8th  of  May.    After  two  assaults,  neither 
of  them  productive  of  much  advantage,  he  proceeded  with  a  regular  system 


..  i  The   Grand   army   Button. 


of  approaches,  till  the  rebels  surrendered  on  the  4th  of  July.  The  trophies 
of  this  victory  were  thirty-one  thousand  prisoners  and  over  four  hundred 
guns.  Port  Hudson,  below,  was  surrendered  four  days  later,  and  the 
Mississippi  flowed  untrammelled  to  the  sea.  Rosecrans,  early  in  June,  had 
commenced  moving  forward  to  press  Bragg  farther  south,  making  Chatta- 
nooga his  objective.  Driving  him  from  Tullahoma,  the  advance  on 
Chattanooga  was  necessarily  slow,  as  the  railroads  and  bridges  were  to  be 
reconstructed  with  a  view  to  permanence,  that  his  supplies  from  his 
primary  and  secondary  bases  —  Louisville  and  Nashville — might  be 
safely  and  rapidly  transmitted.  It  was,  as  we  have  said,  his  intention  to 
occupy  Chattanooga,  but  to  carry  that  important  point  by  direct  attack 
would  have  required  the  sacrifice  of  more  men  than  he  could  spare,  and 
he  accordingly  prepared  to  accomplish  it  by  a  movement  by  the  right  flank, 
sending  his  corps  cParmee  to  cross  Lookout  Mountain  at  different  passes 
miles  below  Chattanooga,  and  thus  threatening  his  communications  with 
lower  Georgia.  The  expected  result  followed.  Chattanooga  was  evacu- 
ated, and  occupied  by  a  small  Union  force  ;  but  Bragg,  having  at  this  time 
received  large  reinforcements,  resolved  to  regain  that  city,  and,  striking 
Rosecrans  before  his  three  corps  could  unite,  to  defeat  him  in  detail. 
By  great  exertion  Rosecrans  was  able  to  effect  a  junction  of  his  army 
corps,  and  in  the  great  battle  of  Chickamauga,  his  first  day's  fighting, 
though  severe,  was  without  result.  The  second  day,  by  an  unfortunate 
misunderstanding  of  an  order,  a  gap  was  left  in  the  Union  lines,  and 
about  one-third  of  the  army,  including  General  Rosecrans  himself  and  two 
of  the  corps  commanders,  McCook  and  Crittenden,  were  swept  back  and 
were  unable  to  force  their  way  through  to  the  remainder  of  the  army. 
Bragg  now  supposed  he  had  an  easy  victory  before  him,  but  the  sturdy 
Thomas  won  for  himself  new  honors.  Setting  his  back  to  the  mountains, 
the  "  Rock  of  Chickamauga,"  as  he  has  been  appropriately  named,  fought 
it  out  with  a  foe  five  times  his  numbers,  and  when  the  enemy  rolled  up 
toward  his  little  army  for  the  last  time,  hurled  upon  them  Steedman's  fresh 
division,  and  drove  them  back,  defeated  and  sullen  at  the  loss  of  their  ex- 
pected prey. 

Almost  simultaneously  with  this  movement,  Burnsi'de  had  occupied 
Knoxville  and  captured  Cumberland  Gap,  and  Tennessee  was  again  in  pos- 
session of  the  United  States.  But  the  possession  of  Chattanooga  was  not 
to  be  maintained  without  a  further  struggle.  Bragg  was  still  further  rein- 
forced, and  Hooker,  Sherman,  Blair,  and  Howard  were  sent  to  reinforce 
the  Army  of  the  Cumberland ;  Rosecrans  was  relieved  and  Thomas  put  in 
his  place,  and  Grant  made  the  commander  of  the  whole  Western  Division. 


Review   of   the   War.  55 


Embarrassed  at  first  by  the  want  of  supplies,  as  the  rebels  held  a  part  of 
the  railroad  and  commanded  a  portion  of  the  river,  they  were  soon  re- 
lieved by  the  manoeuvres  of  Grant  and  the  battle  of  Wauhatchie,  which 
secured  the  command  of  the  river.  When  Bragg  finally  announced  his 
determination  to  bombard  the  city,  having  sent  off  at  the  same  time 
twenty  thousand  of  his  men  to  besiege  Khoxville,  Grant  replied  by  send- 
ing Hooker  to  drive  him  from  Lookout  Mountain,  and  fight  that  battle 
"  above  the  clouds  "  which  will  be  famous  in  history,  detaching  a  cavalry 
force  to  cut  the  railroad  lines  and  prevent  the  return  of  the  men  who  had 
gone  to  Knoxville,  directing  Sherman  to  demonstrate  persistently  and 
heavily  upon  Fort  Buckner,  while  he  hurled  Gordon  Granger's  corps  upon 
Fort  Bragg,  and  Hooker's  upon  Fort  Breckinridge.  Bragg  was  routed 
with  terrible  loss  of  men  and  guns,  and  his  demoralized  army  driven  be- 
yond Mission  Ridge  and  Pigeon  Mountain  to  the  Chattoogata  or  Rocky- 
Faced  Ridge. 

In  1864  new  and  grander  combinations  were  made  for  the  overthrow  of 
the  rebellion.  Inefficient  officers  were  weeded  out  from  all  positions,  high 
or  low,  and  the  administration  exhibited  more  decidedly  than  before  its 
determination  to  press  the  war  to  a  speedy  conclusion.  Sherman's  raid 
into  central  Mississippi  and  Alabama,  with  twenty  thousand  men,  was  of 
more  value  for  the  terror  it  carried  into  the  hearts  of  the  rebel  population 
than  for  any  other  result.  The  Red  River  expedition,  a  miserable  and 
disastrous  failure,  and  the  battle  of  Chester,  only  less  miserable  and  disas- 
trous because  fewer  troops  were  engaged,  were  the  last  vestiges  of  the 
"anaconda"  system.  Henceforth  there  were  but  two  grand  centres  of 
military  authority,  the  Lieutenant -General  Ulysses  S.  Grant,  General-in- 
Chief,  but  personally  commanding  the  Division  of  the  East,  and  Major- 
General  Sherman,  commanding  the  Division  of  the  Mississippi ;  and  these 
two  worked  together  with  a  perfect  unity  of  purpose.  Richmond,  or 
rather  Lee's  army,  Atlanta,  or  Johnston's  army,  were  the  objectives  of 
each. 

Early  in  May  the  grand  movements  commenced.  Grant,  with  nearly  two 
hundred  thousand  men  under  his  control  in  the  three  armies  of  the  Poto- 
mac, the  James,  and  West  Virginia,  moved  forward  in  concert  toward 
Richmond  ;  and  in  a  series  of  battles  unequalled  in  modern  history  for 
their  terrible  destruction  of  human  life  —  battles  which  will  make  the 
names  of  Wilderness,  Spottsylvania,  Hanover,  Court  House,  Cold  Harbor, 
Mechanicsville,  and  Chickahominy  memorable  in  all  the  future  —  drove 
Lee  back  to  Richmond ;  then  swinging  his  troops  across  the  James  laid 
siege  to  Petersburg,  and  by  rapid  and  heavy  blows  —  now  upon  the  de- 


56  Thh  Grand   army   Button. 


fences  of  Richmond,  anon  upon  the  Weldon  Railroad,  mining  the  rebel 
fortifications  of  Petersburg,  throwing  his  troops  across  Hatcher's  Run  to 
break  the  South  side  Railroad,  sending  his  cavalry  to  cut  the  communica- 
tions of  the  rebel  capital  —  kept  the  rebel  commander  constantly  on  the 
alert,  and  held  his  forces  as  in  a  vise  at  this  point.  In  sheer  desperation, 
Lee  attempted  another  expedition,  with  his  irregular  and  a  few  regular 
troops,  into  Maryland  and  Pennsylvania;  but  Early,  its  commander, 
though  he  plundered  several  towns  and  burned  one,  soon  found  his 
master  in  the  fighting  cavalry  general.  Philip  Sheridan,  whom  Grant 
sent  to  take  care  of  him;  defeated  at  Opequan  Creek  and  "sent  whirl- 
ing11 through  Winchester;  routed  from  Fisher's  Hill  and  driven  in  hot 
haste  and  thorough  disorder  up  the  valley,  till  his  men  were  fain  to  hide 
in  the  mountains:  and  when,  reinforced,  he  again  ventured  to  seek  his 
foe,  driven  back  in  disgrace;  and  when,  on  a  third  effort,  which  promised 
to  be  successful,  he  had,  in  Sheridan's  absence,  flanked  his  position  and 
driven  his  army  several  miles,  how  completely  were  the  tables  turned  at 
Sheridan's  sudden  appearance  !  Driven  back  at  full  speed  twenty-six  miles 
in  a  single  night,  his  cannon  left  behind,  and  the  line  of  his  flight  marked 
at  almost  every  step  by  the  muskets,  knapsacks,  blankets,  and  coats  his 
men  had  thrown  away,  poor  Early  was  glad,  henceforth,  to  keep  well  out 
of  Sheridan's  reach.  Fierce  and  bloody  battles  were  not  uncommon  be- 
tween the  two  resolute  and  well-matched  antagonists,  Lee  and  Grant;  but 
while  the  latter  often  lost  the  most  men,  he  gained  something  with  each 
battle,  and  at  length  drew  his  lines  so  closely  that  the  pressure  began  to 
be  intolerable.  In  January,  1865,  Lee  apprised  Jefferson  Davis  that  without 
some  great  changes  he  could  not  hold  out  six  months  longer.  After  two 
severe  battles  on  the  6th  of  February  and  the  25th  of  March,  1865,  the 
final  struggle  came  ;  and  after  a  five  days'  contest,  in  which  a  great  cavalry 
battle  was  fought  at  Dinwiddie  Court  House,  and  sharp  and  severe  actions 
near  Hatcher's  Run.  at  Five  Forks,  and  around  the  fortifications  of  Peters- 
burg, the  Southside  Railroad  was  broken,  the  outer  works  at  Petersburg 
captured,  and  Petersburg  and  Richmond  evacuated.  Six  days  later,  and 
after  battles  at  Deatonsville,  Farmville,  and  Appomattox  Station,  Lee  and 
his  army  surrendered. 

Sherman's  career  was  more  brilliant,  though  perhaps  not  more  certain 
of  eventual  success.  Leaving  Chattanooga  on  the  7th  of  May,  1864,  and 
moving  mostly  by  the  right  flank,  he  drove  Johnston  successively  from 
Dalton,  Resaca,  Kingston,  Dallas,  Great  and  Little  Kenesaw  Mountains, 
(an  assault  on  the  rebel  position  on  the  former  mountain  proving  the 
greatest  disaster  of  the  campaign),   Allatoona  Pass,  Marietta,  and  De- 


Review   of   the   War.  57 


catur ;  and  Johnston,  having  been  superseded  by  Hood,  fought  three  sharp 
battles  before  Atlanta,  in  all  of  which  Hood  lost  very  heavily.  After  besieg- 
ing Atlanta  in  vain  for  sometime,  he  boldly  raised  the  siege,  and,  moving 
twenty  miles  below,  broke  up  Hood's  communications,  fought  and  de- 
feated two  of  his  army  corps  at  Jonesboro,  and  compelled  the  evacuation 
of  Atlanta.  Taking  possession  of  that  city,  he  sent  off  the  inhabitants 
and  accumulated  stores  there  for  further  movements.  Hood  attempted 
to  cut  his  communications  between  Atlanta  and  Chattanooga,  and  boasted 
of  his  intention  to  regain  possession  of  Tennessee.  Sherman  followed 
him  along  the  Chattanooga  and  Atlanta  Railroad,  fought  and  repulsed 
him  at  Allatoona  Pass,  drove  him  through  Pigeon  Mountain  and  westward 
to  Gaylesville,  Ala.,  and  then,  having  assigned  two  corps  of  his  own  army 
to  General  Thomas  and  directed  other  outlying  divisions  to  move  toward 
Nashville,  he  gave  him  general  instructions  to  take  care  of  Hood,  and 
with  the  four  remaining  infantry  corps  and  a  well-appointed  cavalry 
force,  turned  his  face  southward,  destroyed  the  railroad  from  Dalton 
to  Atlanta,  burned  the  public  storehouses  at  Atlanta,  and  on  the  14th  of 
November,  with  an  army  of  sixty  thousand  men,  abandoned  his  base  and 
struck  out  boldly  for  Savannah,  nearly  three  hundred  miles  distant.  By 
a  skilful  handling  of  his  troops,  now  threatening  one  point  and  now 
another,  he  managed  to  prevent  any  considerable  gathering  of  the  enemy 
in  his  track,  and,  with  nothing  more  than  a  few  skirmishes,  captured 
Millidgeville,  reached  the  vicinity  of  Savannah,  and  carried  Fort  Mc- 
Allister by  assault  on  the  14th  of  December.  On  the  20th  Hardee  evacu- 
ated Savannah,  and  Sherman  entered  it  the  next  day.  Meantime  Hood, 
rinding  that  Sherman  had  moved  toward  Savannah,  left  his  camp  in 
Alabama  and  marched  northward,  intent  upon  again  occupying  Ten- 
nessee. General  Schofield,  who  was  at  Pulaski,  had  orders  to  fight  him 
moderately  and  lure  him  on  northward,  but  to  delay  his  progress  till 
General  Thomas1  reinforcements  could  come  up ;  he  performed  this  diffi- 
cult task  with  extraordinary  skill,  falling  back,  fighting  all  the  way  from 
Pulaski  to  Columbia,  from  Columbia  to  the  north  bank  of  Duck  River, 
and  thence  by  a  forced  march  to  Franklin.  At  Franklin  a  severe  battle 
was  fought,  on  the  3d  of  November;  Schofield's  army,  though  greatly 
inferior  in  numbers,  being  behind  breastworks  and  inflicting  terrible 
punishment  on  the  rebels.  In  this  battle  Hood  lost  thirteen  generals. 
Falling  back  again  to  Nashville,  the  rebel  general,  followed,  and  at- 
tempted to  reduce  Nashville  by  besieging  it  on  the  side  ;  but  after  a  fort- 
night General  Thomas,  sallying  forth  with  his  army,  crushed  one  wing  of 
Hood's  army  and  drove  him  back  two  or  three  miles  the  first  day,  and 


58  The  Grand   army   button. 


renewing  the  attack  on  the  following  day  routed  him  completely,  and 
pursuing  him  relentlessly  for  two  weeks,  only  teased  when  his  entire 
army,  except  a  rear-guard  of  about  four  thousand,  was  a  demoralized  and 
unarmed  mob. 

Having  thus  so  completely  broken  up  Hood's  fine  army  that  it  was  no 
longer  to  be  regarded  as  an  organized  force,  General  Thomas  increased 
his  cavalry  force  and  sent  one  large  division,  under  General  Stoneman. 
eastward  into  southwestern  Virginia  and  North  Carolina;  three  divisions 
or  about  fifteen  thousand  mounted  men  southward,  under  General  Wilson, 
into  Alabama  and  Georgia;  one  corps  of  infantry  to  Mobile:  and  another 
eastward  to  Wilmington.  General  Sherman  remained  about  one  month 
in  Savannah  and  its  vicinity,  and  then  moved  forward  on  the  third  stage 
of  the  "great  march."1 

His  objective  this  time  was  Goldsboro.  N.C.  more  than  four  hundred" 
miles  distant.  His  army,  marching  in  two  columns  and  veiled  on 
either  wing  by  Kilpatrick's  cavalry,  cut  a  swarth  of  forty  miles  in  width 
through  the  heart  of  South  and  North  Carolina,  taking  possession  of 
Orangeburg,  Columbia,  Winnsboro,  Cheraw,  Fayetteville,  and  Goldsboro, 
and  compelling  the  rebels  to  evacuate  Charleston,  which  General  Gilmore 
entered  on  the  18th  of  February,  and  other  important  points  on  the  sea- 
board. In  all  this  route  he  fought  but  two  battles,  one  at  Averysboro,  the 
other  at  Bentonville,  N.C,  in  both  of  which  he  defeated  Johnston. 
Arrived  at  Goldsboro,  he  remained  there  for  a  little  more  than  two  weeks 
refitting  his  army.  On  the  19th  of  June,  1864,  off  Cherbourg,  France, 
occurred  a  naval  battle  between  the  United  States  sloop  of  war  "  Kear- 
sage,"  Captain  Winslow,  and  the  Anglo-rebel  privateer,  the  "  Alabama,*' 
which  for  two  years  had  committed  terrible  ravages  among  the  merchant 
vessels  of  the  United  States.  The  commander  of  the  ••  Alabama  "  was  the 
challenger ;  but  after  a  severe  fight  of  about  an  hour,  the  "  Alabama  "  was 
compelled  to  surrender,  and  sunk  soon  after ;  about  thirty  of  her  crew 
were  drowned,  about  seventy  were  picked  up  by  the  boats  of  the  "  Kear- 
sage,"  and  the  remainder,  including  the  rebel  commander,  were  rescued  by 
the  "  Deerhound,11  an  English  yacht  which  seemed  to  act  as  tender  for  the 
"  Alabama,11  and  most  dishonorably  carried  them  to  the  English  shore  and 
set  them  at  liberty. 

General  Grant,  desirous  of  checking  the  blockade-running  and  of 
crippling  Lee's  resources,  had  sent  in  December  a  joint  land  and  naval 
force  to  reduce  Fort  Fisher,  a  strong  earthwork  commanding  the  entrance 
to  Wilmington  harbor.  The  first  expedition  had  proved  a  failure,  but  a 
second  had  been  promptly  fitted  out.  —  the   land  forces  under  General 


REVIEW    OF    THE    WAR.  59 


Terry,  the  naval  as  before  under  Rear-Admiral  Porter, — and  after  a  most 
desperate  and  persistent  assault  of  six  hours  the  fort  was  captured  and  the 
works  adjacent  surrendered.  After  a  brief  period  of  rest  General  Terry 
moved  forward  to  carry  the  other  forts  and  batteries  defending  the  harbor, 
and  General  Schofield  and  his  corps  were  brought  from  Nashville  to  assist 
in  the  work.  On  the  21st  of  February,  Wilmington  was  evacuated  after 
some  hard  fighting,  and  on  the  22d  it  was  occupied  by  Schofield's  and 
Terry's  troops.  These  two  corps  now  moved  forward  through  Kinston, 
where  they  had  a  severe  battle,  to  Goldsboro,  to  join  Sherman.  On  the 
10th  of  April  Sherman  again  moved  on  with  his  army  in  pursuit  of 
Johnston,  driving  him  from  Southfield  on  the  nth  and  from  Raleigh  on 
the  13th.  Here  the  news  of  Lee's  surrender  reached  them,  and  the  Union 
troops  pushed  forward  with  new  ardor  to  conquer  Johnston's  army  also. 
General  Johnston,  seeing  escape  to  be  hopeless,  now  made  overtures  for 
surrender,  but  desired  somewhat  different  terms  from  those  accorded  to 
Lee,  and  proposed  to  surrender  the  entire  rebel  armies  in  the  field.  A 
memorandum  was  drawn  up  by  Johnston  and  Sherman  and  sent  to 
Washington  for  sanction,  but  was  unanimously  disapproved  by  the  presi- 
dent and  cabinet,  General  Grant  concurring.  The  lieutenant-general 
carried  the  intelligence  of  its  rejection  to  General  Sherman,  and  within 
twenty-four  hours  General  Johnston  desired  another  interview  and  sur- 
rendered on  the  same  terms  accorded  to  General  Lee. 

The  assassination  of  the  president,  which  occurred  on  the  14th  of 
April,  did  not,  as  it  was  feared  it  might,  delay  the  approach  of  peace ;  for 
the  hopelessness  of  the  struggle  being  apparent,  the  rebel  commanders 
were  everywhere  ready  to  lay  down  their  arms.  On  the  5th  of  August, 
1864,  the  Forts  Morgan,  Powell,  and  Gaines,  at  the  entrance  to  Mobile 
harbor,  had  been  attacked  by  a  combined  force  under  General  Canby  and 
Rear-Admiral  Farragut,  and  after  a  desperate  naval  battle  in  which  the 
iron-clad  ram  "  Tennessee,"  the  chef-d'ceuvre  of  the  rebel  armored  ships, 
was  captured  and  two  others  of  their  gunboats  destroyed,  the  forts  were 
one  after  another  reduced,  till  on  the  23d  of  August  the  last  surrendered. 
Other  operations,  and  the  necessity  for  the  employment  of  troops  else- 
where, delayed  the  siege  of  the  city  of  Mobile  until  March,  1865,  when,  a 
substantial  force  having  been  assembled  on  the  coast,  a  combined  naval 
and  land  attack  was  made,  and  the  formidable  defences  of  the  city  were 
carried  one  after  another,  and  the  city  surrendered  on  the  nth  of  April. 
The  hundreds  of  torpedoes  with  which  the  bay  was  planted  caused  the 
destruction  of  two  iron-clads  and  four  other  vessels  of  the  United  States 
Navy. 


60 


The   grand   army   button. 


The  surrender  of  Mobile  was  soon  followed  by  the  surrender  of  General 
Dick  Taylor  and  his  army,  on  the  same  terms  which  had  been  accorded  to 
Lee  and  Johnston,  and  the  giving  up  of  the  rebel  navy  on  the  waters  of 
Alabama.  General  Wilson,  with  his  magnificent  cavalry  corps,  had  swept 
through  central  Alabama  and  Georgia,  capturing  Selma,  Montgomery, 
West  Point,  Columbus,  and  Macon;  and  Stoneman,  moving  eastward 
from  Kncxville,  had  reached  Salisbury,  infamous  as  one  of  the  prison-pens 
of  our  brave  soldiers ;  and  the  two  cavalry  generals  were  now  moving 
toward  each  other  in  search  of  the  fugitive  rebel,  President  Jefferson  Davis. 
A  detachment  of  Wilson's  corps  arrested  him  on  the  loth  of  May,  1865, 
at  Irwinville,  Georgia,  in  the  act  of  attempting  to  escape  in  feminine  garb. 
The  arch  traitor  in  custody,  there  remained  no  more  rebels  in  arms  except 
Kirby  Smith's  force  in  Texas,  which  also  surrendered  on  the  26th  of  May. 

Thus  ended  the  rebellion  and  the  war  for  the  restoration  of  the  Union. 
It  had  cost  more  than  half  a  million  of  lives,  and  in  the  debts  of  the  two 
sections  and  the  destruction  of  property  and  values  not  less  than  eight 
thousand  millions  of  money;  but  fearful  as  its  expense  had  been,  it  is 
worth  all  it  has  cost.  Slavery  has  been  destroyed,  the  State  Rights 
heresy  effectually  overthrown,  and  the  power  of  the  nation  to  maintain  its 
integrity  in  spite  of  domestic  treason  or  foreign  interference  fully  demon- 
stated.  Henceforth  we  are  one  people  —  one  in  purpose  and  aim,  one  in 
our  hopes  for  the  present  and  our  aspirations  for  the  future.  There  may 
and  will  be  jealousies  and  prejudices  to  be  overcome  ;  bitterness  will  rankle 
in  some  hearts  perhaps  during  the  lifetime  of  the  present  generation ;  but 
henceforth  the  banner  of  the  free  shall  float  over  an  undivided,  free,  happy, 
and  prosperous  land ;  and  the  vast  resources,  still  but  half  developed, 
which  will  draw  to  our  shores  in  rapidly  increasing  numbers  the  oppressed 
of  all  nations,  will  soon  lighten  our  burdens,  and  cause  the  war  to  be  re- 
membered only  for  the  patriotism  it  developed  and  the  blessings  it  has 
secured  to  us. 


LlBBY     PRISON.  61 


LIBBY    PRISON. 


BY   COMRADE   NELSON    MONROE. 


FROM  the  corner  of  a  dingy  brick  building  in  one  of  the  streets  of 
Richmond,  Va.,  there  could  have  been  seen,  at  the  breaking  out  of 
the  rebellion  in  1861,  a  small  sign,  which  told  to  the  passer-by  that 
"  Libby  &  Son,  Ship  Chandlers  and  Grocers,1'  had  invited  their  patrons  to 
this  point,  as  the  one  where  their  business  was  conducted,  and  where  those 
must  repair  who  were  interested  in  bargains  particularly  associated  with 
their  vocation.  It  was  not  of  sufficient  importance  in  time  of  peace  to 
obtain  a  wide  celebrity,  neither  were  the  owners  thereof  so  distinguished 
as  to  be  of  great  notoriety ;  but  as  the  inauguration  of  war  has  inducted 
many  into  office  who  were  hitherto  obscure  and  unknown,  so  the  contin- 
gencies of  our  civil  strife  have  opened  this  place  to  the  public  gaze  and 
made  it  famous,  or  rather  z'wfamous,  before  the  world,  beside  conferring  a 
lustreless  fame  upon  the  proprietors.  The  very  name  of  Libby  has  become 
synonymous  with  that  of  terror ;  it  carries  tyranny  and  oppression  in  its 
simple  sound.  The  soldier  who  is  taken  prisoner  in  Virginia  vales  is  at 
once  haunted  with  visions  of  this  darksome  den,  and  shrinks  from  enter- 
ing a  place  so  full  of  bitter  experiences  as  that  is  known  to  be. 

Fierce  hate  and  revenge  reigned  supreme  there,  and  consequently 
there  was  wrought  out  a  system  of  discipline  which  produced  a  condition 
such  as  we  might  expect  when  the  discordant  elements  of  being  rage  un- 
checked ;  and  we  are  not  surprised  to  find  the  culmination  reached  in 
almost  fiendish  expression.  Thousands  who  have  been  in  Libby  Prison 
will  rehearse  the  story  of  their  misery,  want,  and  woe  to  others ;  these 
will  pass  them  along  to  other  listeners  still,  so  that  the  echo  will  scarcely 
die  out  at  the  remotest  period  of  the  present  generation.  Households,  in 
coming  time,  will  gather  about  the  fireside  and  talk  of  their  friends  and 
ancestors  who  ended  their  days  in  so  much  wretchedness  because  of  their 
attachment  to  the  Union,  and  in  proportion  as  their  bravery  and  heroism, 


62  THE     GRAND     ARMY     BUTTON. 


their  courage  and  constancy,  are  admired  will  the  malice  and  fury  of  their 
persecutors  be  condemned. 

It  may  he,  and  probably  is,  one  of  the  essentials  of  war  that  places  be 
provided  for  the  confinement  of  prisoners  :  but  they  do  not  necessarily  in- 
clude every  species  of  torment  which  the  human  mind  is  capable  of  con- 
ceiving. They  should  not  naturally  presuppose  the  absence  of  all 
humanity  and  the  annihilation  of  every  condition  of  comfortable  exist- 
ence, as  they  have  seemed  to  in  almost  every  part  of  the  South  where 
the  Confederate  authorities  existed. 

Their  treatment  of  prisoners  was  very  ahusive,  kicking  them,  and  never 
speaking  of  one  only  in  the  most  opprobrious  terms. 

The  nights  were  very  cold,  and,  there  being  nothing  but  gratings  in  the 
windows,  the  men  were  obliged  to  walk  all  night  long  to  keep  from  freezing, 
and  if"  they  could  meet  the  friendly  embrace  of  slumber  at  all,  it  was  dur- 
ing the  day,  when  the  sun  would  shed  its  kindly  beams  upon  them,  and  so 
imparting  sufficient  warmth  to  their  bodies  to  keep  them  from  shivering. 

You  have  no  idea  of  their  utter  destitution  when  you  listen  to  the  state- 
ment they  make  respecting  the  manner  of  their  obtaining  the  food  which 
they  must  have  in  some  way  or  perish. 

I  have  seen  men  draw  their  bean-soup  in  their  shoes  for  the  want  of  a  cup. 
plate,  or  anything  of  the  kind  to  put  it  in.  And  what  seemed  worse  than  all 
the  rest  was  the  almost  satanic  rule  that  if  a  man  was  caught  resting  his 
eye  upon  the  glad  scenes  of  nature  through  a  window  he  must  be  quickly 
translated  from  earth  by  the  ball  of  a  musket.  The  whole  thing  is  arbi- 
trary in  the  extreme ;  but  we  could  expect  little  else  under  the  very  shadow 
of  the  Confederate  capitol,  where  the  original  framers  of  secession  go  in 
and  out,  seeking  to  form  a  dynasty,  though  it  be  founded  in  the  tears  and 
blood,  the  cries  and  groans,  of  their  fellow-men.  Of  the  numbers  who 
have  been  admitted  within  the  walls  of  the  Libby  Building  we  can  scarcely 
speak,  for  the  multitudes  have  been  conveyed  thither  temporarily,  to  remain 
only  until  such  time  as  they  could  be  transported  to  other  places.  Very 
many  thousands  have  found  a  transient  home  here,  and  their  united  testi- 
mony is  the  same. 

It  was  three  stories  high,  and  eighty  feet  in  width,  and  a  hundred  and 
ten  feet  in  depth.  In  front,  the  first  story  was  on  a  level  with  the  street, 
allowing  space  for  a  tier  of  dungeons  under  the  sidewalk  ;  but  in  the  rear 
the  land  sloped  away  till  the  basement  floor  rose  above  the  ground.  Its 
unpainted  walls  were  scorched  to  a  rusty  brown,  and  its  sunken  doors  and 
low  windows,  filled  here  and  there  with  a  dusky  pane,  were  cobwebbed 
and  weather-stained,  giving  the  whole  building  a  most  uninviting  and 
desolate  appearance. 


64 


The  Grand   Army   Button. 


Upon  passing  inside,  we  entered  a  room  about  forty  feet  wide  and  a 
hundred  feet  deep,  with  bare  brick  walls,  a  rough  plank  floor,  and  narrow, 
dingy  windows,  to  whose  sash  only  a  few  broken  panes  were  clinging.  A 
row  of  tin  wash-basins,  and  a  wooden  trough,  which  served  as  a  bathing- 
tub,  were  at  one  end  of  it,  and  a  half-dozen  cheap  stools  and  hard-bot- 
tomed chairs  were  littered  about  the  floor,  hut  it  had  no  other  furniture: 
and  this  room,  with  five  others  of  similar  si/e  and  appointments,  and  two 
basements  floored  with  earth  and  filled  with  dibris,  composed  the  famous 
Libby  Prison,  in  which  for  months  together  thousands  of  the  best  and 
bravest  men  that  ever  went  into  battle  have  been  allowed  to  rot  and  to 
starve. 

From  the  time  the  war  began,  twelve  and  sometimes  thirteen  hundred 
of  our  officers  and  men  were  hived  within  those  half-dozen  desolate  rooms 
and  filthy  cellars,  with  a  space  of  only  ten  feet  by  two  allotted  to  each  for 
all  the  purposes  of  living. 

Overrun  with  vermin,  peiishing  with  cold,  breathing  a  stifled,  tainted 
atmosphere,  no  space  allowed  them  for  rest  by  day,  and  lying  down  at 
night  "wormed  and  dovetailed  together  like  fish  in  a  basket,"  their  daily- 
rations  only  two  ounces  of  stale  beef  and  a  small  lump  of  hard  corn-bread, 
and  their  lives  the  forfeit  if  they  caught  but  one  streak  of  God's  blue  sky 
through  those  filthy  windows,*  —  they  have  endured  all  these  horrors  in 
the  middle  passage.  My  soul  sickened  as  I  looked  upon  the  scene  of  their 
wretchedness.  If  the  liberty  we  were  fighting  for  were  not  worth  even  so 
terrible  a  price,  if  it  were  not  cheaply  purchased  even  with  the  blood 
and  agony  of  the  many  brave  and  true  souls  who  have  gone  into  that  foul 
den  only  to  die  or  to  come  out  the  shadows  of  men, — living  ghosts,  con- 
demned to  walk  the  night  and  to  fade  away  before  the  breaking  of  the 
great  day  that  is  coming.— who  would  not  cry  out  for  peace,  for  peace  on 
any  terms  ? 

We  need  no  other  proof  of  the  true  nobleness  of  soul  in  the  young 
men  of  our  country  than  the  voices  which  come  ever  and  anon  from  these 
forbidding  prison-places,  telling  us  of  a  quenchless  love  for  the  cause  of 
right;  of  a  devotion  and  fervor  that  know  no  abatement,  and  a  willingness 
to  do  and  to  dare,  to  suffer  and  to  die,  that  the  tyrant  of  oppression  may 
be  crushed,  and  the  glad  hosannas  of  Freedom  ring  through  the  land  and 
reverberate  among  the  hills;  that  we  may  have  not  a  "circle  within  a  cir- 
cle.1' but  one  that  is  continuous,  unbroken,  clasping  in  its  mighty  embrace 
a  free,  happy,  and  united  people. 


*  See  poem,  "'The  Dead  Line  '  at  Libby  Prison." 


"The  Dead  Line"   at  Libby  Prison.  65 


"THE   DEAD    LINE"   AT    LIBBY    PRISON. 


FROM  his  box  the  rebel  soldier  watched  his  sad  and  weary  foe, 
While  the  noon  in  solemn  silence  seemed  unwilling  far  to  go, 
As  if  it  did  wish  to  whisper  to  the  sad  and  weary  there, 
How  it  smiled  o'er  Western  prairies  and  New  England  valleys  fair ; 
And  the  starving  son  looked  on  it,  and  the  weeping  mother  too, 
One  at  home  and  one  in  prison,  but  their  hearts  together  drew. 
And  the  pining  husband  saw  it,  and  his  fond  and  loving  wife, 
One  looked  from  her  chamber  sleepless,  one  was  trying  to  hold  life. 
Oh  !  the  moon  was  brightly  beaming,  as  it  on  its  way  did  roam, 
And  it  lit  the  soldier's  prison  and  it  lit  his  far-off  home. 
Wife  and  mother  asked  beneath  it,  Where's  my  husband  and  my  boy  ? 
Months  have  passed  since  I  heard  from  them,  and  shall  time  my  hopes 

destroy  ? 
Son  and  husband  asked  beneath  it,  Where's  the  mother  and  the  wife? 
Do  they  know  how  now  I  suffer,  how  I'm  loth  to  part  with  life? 
Do  they  know  the  peril  of  it,  if  we  leave  the  heated  clime, 
And  without  a  moment's  warning  put  our  feet  on  the  Dead  Line  ? 

Distant  friend,  how  we  have  suffered  for  the  want  of  food  and  clothes, 
How  we've  daily  pined  with  hunger,  but  the  God  of  Heaven  knows, 
And  how  we  have  had  no  shelter  from  the  sun  and  from  the  storm. 
Ah  !  it  sent  to  yonder  graveyard  many  a  once  stout,  noble  form. 
Ah  !  we've  seen  the  light  of  hoping  leaving  many  a  once  bright  eye, 
And  we've  seen  the  strong  and  robust  turn  to  skeletons  and  die, 
And  we  knew  why  they  were  numbered  with  the  cold  and  silent  dead 
Was  because  they  had  no  shelter,  and  ate  filth  instead  of  bread ; 
And  we  heard  how  distant  fond  ones,  from  the  golden  State  of  Maine, 
Sent  us  blankets  to  wrap  round  us,  sent  us  food  life  to  sustain, 
But  the  minions  of  Jeff  Davis  robbed  the  starving  prisoners  there, 
While  their  chivalry  they  boasted,  and  their  leader  formed  a  prayer. 
'Twas  a  prayer  for  aid  from  Heaven  on  the  traitors'  cherished  plans, 
As  if  God  himself  could  sanction  all  the  ways  they  murdered  man, 
As  if  He  could  look  with  favor  on  the  fiends  who- there  combine 
To  cause  famine  and  exposure  to  force  some  to  the  Dead  Line. 


■j*< 


66  THE    GRAND    ARMY    BUTTON. 


And  why  should  the  traitor  soldier  be  too  cautious  ere  he  tires? 
And  why  should  he  loudly  challenge,  when  so  glowing  his  desires? 
And  why  would  he  not  aim  steady  when  he  gets  a  leader's  praise, 
And  if  thus  he  shoots  a  Yankee,  has  a  furlough  thirty  days? 
Other  nights  they  may  be  dismal,  and  the  line  may  pass  from  view: 
Still  the  bloodhounds,  trained  to  watching,  eye  the  weak  and  helpless  too; 
And  the  sentinels  are  knowing  that  his  food  has  made  him  so, 
That  his  stomach  is  disordered,  and  his  face  portrays  his  woe  : 
And  for  him  they  have  no  pity,  for  their  hearts  like  rivers  freeze, 
Though  he  suffers  from  starvation  and  the  inroads  of  disease. 
Still  the  glimmering  hope  is  cherished,  'mid  the  many  dangers  there, 
That  again  he  may  be  knowing  a  fond  wife  or  mother's  care. 
And  he  ponders  as  he  wanders,  Nature  does  assert  its  right, 
And  each  sentinel  well  knoweth  the  poor  prisoner's  dreadful  plight, 
but,  oh!    nothing  say  unto  him,  from  him  hide  not  the  marked  place, 
For  you'll  never  get  a  furlough,  if  you  warn  him  from  the  line. 

Hark!     There  is  a  scream  of  terror,  traitor  minions  heed  it  not, 

For  it's  not  of  much  importance,  but  a  Y'ankee  soldier's  shot. 

Not  a  fence  was  there  to  warn  him,  and  the  marks  were  hard  to  see, 

But  a  "  Reb  "  has  got  a  furlough  and  a  prisoner's  soul  set  free. 

There's  another  squad  of  Yankees  waiting  and  watching  there. 

How  we  wish  when  we  are  guarding  some  would  try  to  cross  the  line. 

'Tis  a  wonder  they  don't  try  it  when  they  have  to  suffer  so  ; 

And  it  is  our  leader's  study  how  to  starve  or  freeze  each  foe, 

So  that  he  may  ne'er  be  useful  in  the  foeman's  ranks  again ; 

And  the  pale  and  tottering  "  Yankees  "  tell  the  hope  is  not  in  vain ; 

While  they  from  their  Northern  prisons  stouter  send  our  prisoners  back, 

With  no  crushed  hopes  in  their  bosoms  and  no  bloodhounds  on  their  track  ; 

And  to  keep  their  hard-earned  money  they  did  not  in  vain  beseech, 

Nor  when  wishing  for  an  apple  pay  a  dollar  bill  for  each  ; 

And  no  Federal  had  a  furlough  to  make  hopes  the  brighter  shine, 

Till  he  shot  a  helpless  foeman  full  five  feet  from  the  Dead  Line. 

Who'll  forget  the  rude  old  wagons  in  which  they  our  dead  conveyed, 
And  the  loathsome,  shabby  manner  in  which  our  brothers  there  were  laid? 
Who'll  forget  the  same  rude  wagons,  in  which  die)  conveyed  our  dead, 
After  served  another  purpose  —  that  of  bringing  us  our  bread, 
That  of  bringing  us  our  "  corn-cob,"  which  they  cruelly  called  meal, 
While  the  life-blood  from  the  soldiers  it  would  like  a  robber  steal? 


"The   Dead  Line"  at   Libby  Prison.  57 


Who'll  forget  the  putrid  "  beef-steaks,''  twenty  men  on  one  to  dine, 

1'eas  in  which  huge  worms  were  gathered  as  if  drawn  in  battle  line? 

Who'll  forget  the  black  swamp-water  and  the  crocodiles  near  by? 

Who'll  forget  the  chains  so  heavy  in  which  foes  let  prisoners  die? 

Who'll  forget  the  smoky  pine-tires  round  which  clustered  "  heart-sick 
bands, 

Speaking  of  the  friends  they  treasured,  while  they  looked  like  "  contra- 
bands "  ? 

Who'll  forget  the  rampant  villains  saying  we  deserved  our  lot, 

And  the  "unknown"  who  were  buried  in  the  trench —  a  fearful  spot? 

Who'll  forget  the  countless  horrors  —  there's  no  book  the  tenth  could  tell, 

For  Libbv  Prison  nothing  lacketh  to  make  it  the  Earthly  Hell. 

See  the  graveyard  yonder  swelling  with  the  prisoners  paroled. 
Let  us  trust  their  noble  spirits  have  gone  to  their  Saviour's  fold. 
Ah  !  how  many  forms  were  murdered  in  a  cold  and  shocking  way — 
Can  their  treatment  be  forgotten  while  our  souls  are  in  this  clay? 
It  needs  something  more  than  human  to  forget  what  brave  men  bore, 
To  forget  the  graveyard  swelling  and  the  hearts  that  suffered  sore, 
To  forget  the  noble  comrades  who  did  perish  midst  our  foes, 
For  the  want  of  food  and  shelter,  while  the  rebels  stole  their  clothes. 
To  forget  the  horrid  treatment  mortal  man  must  feel  to  know. 
There's  no  human  comprehension  that  can  realize  the  woe  ; 
Put  be  tried  as  foes  have  tried  us,  fearing  that  we  would  survive, 
And  you  wonder  that  a  mortal  left  that  Earthly  Hell  alive. 
There  were  many,  many  spirits  left  Libby  Prison  and  took  flight, 
As  if  they  had  wings  of  angels,  to  the  land  of  life  and  light ; 
Many  who  were  often  longing  they  could  leave  the  accursed  place, 
And  the  angels  bade  them  welcome,  far  outside  of  the  Dead  Line. 

And  now,  comrades,  this  is  what  we  nave  done  ;  and  thirty  years  have 
passed  and  gone. 

Our  friendship  with  each  other,  in  Fraternity,  Charity,  and  Loyalty,  has 
with  those  years  stronger  grown  ;  and  as  we  look  back  upon  the  past,  and 
think  of  our  comrades  who  have  answered  the  final  roll-call  we  won- 
der  why  it  was  not  our  fate  to  be  called  from  that  Earthly  Hell  (Libby 
■Prison).  Who  can  answer?  But,  comrades,  as  we  have  been  spared  this, 
the  Grand  Army  Button,  to  wear,  let  us  wear  it  as  a  "  Souvenir"  (as  it 
is),  in  remembrance  of  the  past,  and  thank  God  that  we  did  not  approach 
too  near  the  Dead  Line. 


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